As Time Stands Still
by honkytonkangel1
Summary: Eighty years after the war in Hueco Mundo ended, Jushiro Ukitake had finally given up hope of ever finding love. All of that changed, however, on the night he met the girl that would change his life forever. Jushiro Ukitake x OC
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters.**

**Summary:** Eighty years after the war in Hueco Mundo ended, Jushiro Ukitake had finally given up hope of ever finding true love. All of that changed, however, on the night he met the girl that would change his life forever.

**This is my first fan fiction. I hope you like it!**

**Prologue**

Pale light shown down from the moon filtering though the trees casting small geometric pieces of light to fall on the dark forest floor. The only sound in the forest was the sighing of the wind through the trees and the crunch of dry leaves under the heavy weight of the supply carts.

"I don't like this," said one of the gauds at the head of the procession. "It's too quiet out here."

"What do you mean?" asked another guard who was walking next to the first.

"I haven't heard so much as a cricket chirp or an owl hoot for the past hour. I tell you, something's up. It's as if the woods is holding its breath, as if it knows something we don't. Something isn't right."

"You're just being paranoid," replied the second guard. They continued to ride in silence for a while until the first guard stopped dead in his tracks.

"Whoa," he called out and waved back at the procession following him to stop.

"What?" asked the second guard turning to face his partner.

"Do you feel that?" asked the first guard, his voice a little below a whisper.

"Feel what?"

"The wind." It was only then that the second guard noticed that the wind had completely stopped blowing. The tree tops were standing absolutely still in the night and there was not so much as a breeze hitting his face. A chill ran down the center of his back and his hand went to grasp the handle of the knife that was sitting in his front pocket.

"We should keep moving," urged the second guard. His friend didn't budge. It was then that he noticed that his friend had turned paper white and was staring straight in front of him with an expression of frozen horror. The second guard slowly turned his head and followed his friends frozen stare. There standing in front of the procession was a figure dressed in black from head to toe blocking the road.

"Wh-who are you?" asked the guard, his voice trembling. "What are you doing here?" His hand began to tremble so violently that he nearly dropped the knife that he was clutching in his fist.

The black cloaked figure didn't answer the question. Instead he quickly moved his hand into his sash and pulled out a long silver sword that glistened in the fine light of the moon.

"Stand Still." The voice from the figure came out so quietly that at first the guard had thought that he had imagined it. And in the next second, the figure was gone.

The wind blew violently through the trees.

**Please Review :)**


	2. Chapter 1: Change

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 1: Change**

It was past dark when Jushiro Ukitake finally returned to the Seireitei. After meeting with his father at the family estate in the country earlier that morning, Jushiro had spent most of the day sparring with two of his nephews who were home for the weekend. They were both in their third year of training at the shinigami academy and Jushiro was surprised by how much his nephews had improved since the last time he had sparred with them. They were both strong and intelligent and they were on their way to becoming great shinigamis one day. Exhausted and deciding that he needed a drink, Jushiro searched the Seireitei for his best friend Kyoraku Shunsui's reitsau. He was surprised to find that his best friend was at the 8th division office for two reasons: it was seven in the evening and it was a Saturday night. Ukitake quickly shunpoed over to the 8th division office. He stopped outside and let his reitsau flare slightly to announce his arrival before he reached up and pushed open the heavy wooden door to the main office.

As soon as he crossed the threshold into the office, Jushiro was nearly knocked over a blur of blue that ran into his legs. He let out a low umph and staggered back a step before looking down. He was greeted by a scared little face.

"Uncle Ukitake, uncle Ukitake! Save me!" Yuki Kyoraku looked a lot like her father with her large honey brown eyes and wavy dark brown hair that reached down to the middle of the back of her royal blue kimono. She began tugging frantically on the front of his captain's haori.

"Save you?" he asked, confused. "Whatever from?"

"We're playing Shinigami and Hollows and Suzu and Amaya are after me!" When she twisted her head around to look behind her Jushiro noticed that she was wearing a white Mardi Gras mask on the top of her head as a hollow mask.

"Get her!" he heard a voice yell and looked up to see the second Kyoraku girl Amaya running towards her sister in a flowing yellow kimono, her short black curls bouncing as she ran. She was clutching a Barbie doll by the head and holding it away from her body as if it were a zanpakuto. She was followed closely by her oldest sister Suzu also clutching a Barbie doll zanpakuto.

"Eeeeek!" let out a startled Yuki as she quickly let go of Ukitake's legs and continued running to escape her sisters. Ukitake couldn't help but smile. Things sure had changed in the 8th Division office over the past few years. Where shake bottles used to stand piled in the back corner of the office there was now a pile of associated stuffed animals and dolls. The cupboards that used to be filled with new shake bottles were now filled with gummy snacks and bright yellow goldfish shaped crackers. The once bare white walls of the office was now covered with brightly colored finger paintings and drawing of happy zanpakuto holding stick figures and fuzzy animals. The large Kido books that used to sit stacked in the window seat were nowhere to be found. In their place lay a copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales. The couch that Shunsui used to sleep on instead of doing work whenever he was in the office was now occupied by a different Kyoraku. Sleeping on the faded red cloth of the couch was the littlest Kyoraku, Hana. But out of all the changes, the most shocking had to be the fact that there, sitting behind a large wooden desk, sat Kyoraku Shunsui, almost completely done going through a large mountain of paperwork.

"Jushiro!" Shunsui exclaimed looking up from his paper work for the first time since he had entered the room. "It's nice to see you my friend."

"It's nice to see you too," replied Jushiro.

"Please, have a seat," Shunsui said as he motioned towards the empty spot next to Hana on the couch.

"Thanks," he replied. Jushiro proceeded to side step a disarticulated Mr. Potato Head that lay on the ground headed to the couch. Careful not to wake Hana up, he gently sat down next to her small sleeping frame. "You know, no matter how many times I see it, I still can't believe that you've actually taken to doing your share of the paperwork."

"I know," Shunsui replied. He set down his pen and linked his fingers together before lifting his arms high over his head. He yawned while stretching. "I still can't believe it myself sometimes. I'm actually doing all of the paperwork right now. The new baby will be here in a few weeks. I managed to bribe captain Unohana into convincing Nanao that she really needs to take the last month before the baby comes off and just rest."

"How'd you manage to bribe her?"Jushiro asked, surprised that incorruptible captain of the Fourth Division could be bribed.

"I promised her that I would babysit those hell twins of hers." Jushiro cringed. "I know, I know. How two docile people like Unohana and Amagai could possibly produced two of the most evil and mischievous children the Soul society has ever seen is beyond me. If they weren't dead ringers of their father, I would swear that they were Zaraki's love children." Jushiro laughed.

"Good luck when she comes to collect. I hear that no one has made it more than an hour with those two. One of their baby sitters actually ended up in the 4th after just being with them for ten minutes!"

"I know," Shunsui groaned. "It'll be worth it though. I really don't want another repeat of what happened when Nanao was pregnant last time. When Nanao was pregnant with Hana she refused to stay at home the week before she was due and little Hana there was almost born in this office!"

"I remember that," Jushiro said chuckling. "I was on my way to the first division office when I saw you shunpoing to the forth as if you had a whole Arrancar army on your heels. I've never seen you move so fast in your life! And while carrying Nanao no less! I bet you broke the sound barrier! "

"I wouldn't be surprised if I did." Jushiro looked down at the little girl sleeping silently on the couch next to him. Out of all of all four of Shunsui and Nanao's daughters, Hana was the one that most resembled her mother. Her short straight black hair barley reached the top of her silk pink kimono collar and was pulled out of her face by a pink cherry blossom clip. Her skin was extremely pale just like her mother's and below her closed eyelids was a pair of bright violet eyes.

At that moment, there was a small reitsau flare followed by a loud crash in the corner of the room. "Amaya, no using kido on your sister! If you burn Suza's eyebrows off again your mother is not going to be furious!" Shunsui warned. There was an eruption of giggles from where the crash had come from. Shunsui looked over apprehensively at Hana afraid that she had been awaken by the noise. She stirred a little, bringing her small fisted hand to rub her cheek, took a deep breath, and then continued to sleep peacefully as if nothing had happened. Shunsui let out a relived sigh and leaned back in his chair. "So where were you all day?"

"I got summoned by my family in the middle of the night. I don't know if you've heard, but there has been a string of robberies taking place in the western woods. So far several of the noble families have lost several thousands of dollars worth of food and supplies."

"Oh yeah," replied Shunsui as he began to stroke the dark stubble on his chin. "I think I did hear my brother and father mention something like that a few weeks ago when we went to visit. I didn't get to listen to the whole story though, I had to get up and stop Suzu and Yuki fishing in my father's goldfish pond." Jushiro smiled and then continued.

"Out of the ten robberies that have occurred, six of those have involved my family. My father tried upping the security on the supply caravan after the first attack occurred. It was at first assumed that non-reitsau possessing individuals were committing the crimes and that they would be no match for a few reitsau possessing guards. But that wasn't the case. Even with the reitsau possessing guards, the thieves were still able to make off with everything. The reitsau possessing guards didn't even have a chance to fight the thieves. They appeared and were gone again before they could even try to fight them off. Although they're pretty sure that the thieves aren't shinigami, they do now suspected that the thieves themselves possess relatively high reitsau levels, at least high enough levels to be able to shunpo and are somehow able to completely mask their reitsau until right before they attack. So, my father has asked me to escort the next supply caravan tomorrow night so that I can help determine exactly what kind of people are committing these robberies."

"Humm, that does sound strange. It's a good thing that you're going to check it out. These individuals could possibly pose a threat to the Soul Society if they do in fact possess relatively large reitsau levels that they have managed to keep suppressed. Large amounts of power in the untrained hand can be a very dangerous thing and place us all at risk."

"I agree. It's better to get to the bottom of this before it's not just food and supplies that they go after." Jushiro felt something move besides him and looked down to find Hana sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Daddy, I hungry," she said in her sleep heavy musical voice. Shunsui glanced behind him at the clock on the wall and sighed.

"I suppose it is time for dinner after all. Jushiro would you like to come over and join us? Nanao said that she would have some rise and miso soup ready when we got back."

"I'd love to." Shunsui called out to his daughters and Jushiro helped them gather up the toys and books that they had scattered around the floor of the office and return them to a basket in the corner of the room.

"Come on my precious little flowers, it's time to go home," Shunsui said as he adjusted the straw hat on his head. He opened the front office door and the girls quickly filed out. "One, two, three, fo—" Shunsui glanced back on the couch on the couch only to see that it was empty. His eyes quickly scanned the office. "Girls, where's your sister?" he asked, voice slightly panicked. The three little girls popped their heads back in the doorway one by one.

"I don't know," said Suzu.

"She's not out here," stated Amaya.

"Last time I saw her she was sleeping on the couch," said Yuki pointing to the now empty couch near the door with her small index finger. Jushiro helped Shunsui search his office for the littlest Kyoraku girl. After searching under the couch, behind the front door, and in the bottom cupboards, Jushiro heard soft giggling.

"Shunsui," Jushiro whispered and pointed towards Shunsui's large wooden desk. Shunsui looked over towards the desk and saw a piece of shiny pink silk fabric sticking out from underneath it. Slowly, he began to tiptoe towards the desk.

"I found you!" he exclaimed as he bent his head down to look under the desk. There was an eruption of giggles from under the desk. Shunsui gently reached down below the desk and pulled out the little girl still giggling. He gave her a soft hug before shifting her weight so that she sat on his right hip. She hugged his neck tightly and he smiled. "Now we can go home and see mama."

Jushiro, Shunsui, and the four little girls slowly walked to the Kyoraku house. The night wind blew gently shaking the cherry blossoms on the trees that lined the streets filling the air with their fragrance. Jushiro took a deep breath, enjoying the sweet smell of the flowers.

"You better enjoy it while you still can. Fall starts soon and then winter will be here before you know it." Jushiro looked up and was amazed by the beauty of the flower petals drifting down from the trees in the light of the moon. "You know, I used to hate it."

"Hate what?" Jushiro asked turning to look at his best friend. Hana's little face was buried in his neck and her soft steady breathing confirmed that she was sleeping.

"Winter. I used to hate all of the snow, the cold, the way everything seemed to die. I would miss being able to sit outside for hours under the cherry trees while the world was covered in snow." Shunsui paused.

"What changed that?" Jushiro asked when his friend hadn't continued.

"I guess," Shunsui said "I found something I loved infinitely more than the sun and the flowers. I found my own source of warmth." He looked ahead and nodded towards the three little girls that ran jumping and skipping ahead of them. "Now, no matter how cold it gets now, I'm always warm." He smiled gently and looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms. "And plus, my little flowers love to play in the snow. I can't hate something that makes them so happy." A few minutes passed before Jushiro said anything.

"Shunsui," Jushiro said, "do you ever miss it?"

"Miss what?" Shunsui responded, turning his head to look at his friend.

"The old life, you know, the way things used to be. Before Aizen, before the battle in Hueco Mundo, before everything changed." Shunsui contemplated the question for a while before answering.

"I do miss some things I guess. I miss how time use to seem to stand still and how there always seem to be enough of it. Before, I used to be able to march into battle without worry, without fear. But that's no longer the case. Now whenever I march into battle, I'm afraid. Not afraid of facing my enemy, but afraid of running out of time. I'm afraid that my time will be cut short and that I won't have enough time to grow old with my little Nanao. I'm afraid that I won't have time to watch my little flowers grow up and become beautiful women. I'm afraid that I might miss the opportunity to hold grandchildren in my arms. Time has become my greatest wish and my worst enemy.

"But, as far as the freedom and liberties of being a bachelor goes, I don't miss that at all. Now that I have my Nanao and my little girls in my life, I finally feel complete. I can't even believe that there was ever a time that they weren't in my life. Now that I have them, I can't ever imagine living without them." Jushiro smiled at his friend and then turned his head to face forward again.

"I guess they have you wrapped."

"Completely. Each one, around her pinky finger."

"It's not like you ever even stood a change. You are severely outnumbered."

"Five, possibly soon six women against one. Definitely not fair." They continued to walk for a while in silence before Shunsui finally spoke.

"Jushiro, has something been bothering you?" Shunsui asked.

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, it's just that, you seem to be quieter than usual. And, especially in the past few months, you seem to be more distant."

"Have I?" Jushiro asked faking ignorance. He know exactly what his friend was talking about.

"Jushiro," Shunsui said rolling his eyes, "I've known you longer than anyone else. You're practically my brother. You can't lie to me and pretend that nothing is wrong. I know that you've had something weighing heavily on your mind. What's wrong?" Jushiro was silent and looked away. Hoping to make some progress, Shunsui ventured a guess. "Is it about her?"

"No, no, it's not about her," Jushiro said in a rushed voice while quickly waving his hands back and forth and cracking a fake smile. "There's nothing wrong. I'm just been feeling a little unwell that's all. It must just be my illness preparing to act up. But trust me I'm fine." Shunsui scrutinized Jushiro's face, hoping to find some hint, some shred of evidence that would indicate what was really bothering him. He clearly hadn't bought his response. But, after a few more moments of searching, Shunsui let out a long sigh and looked forward again.

"Okay, whatever you say Jushiro." Jushiro was glad that his friend had dropped the subject. They continued to walk in silence. A few moments later, Jushiro felt something hit the top of his right shoulder. He reached up and pulled away an intact pink cherry blossom flower. He sighed and slowly began turning the small flower over and over in his hand. He could feel it now. There was an edge in the evening air that hadn't been there a moment before. There was a sharpness to the sound of the wind as it blew all around. Yes, it was undeniable now—the seasons were changing.

Change. A lot had changed in the Soul Society since the war against Aizen had ended. Jushiro knew as well as everyone else that war changes people. It is impossible to be surrounded by so much death and destruction and not change in some form or another. The war in Hueco Mundo had made everyone take a good look at what they had, at what was really important to them—at what they could bear to lose and at what they couldn't live without. For people like Shunsui and Nanao, the war had driven them together. After nearly losing her during the war, Shunsui had finally become serious in his pursuit of Nanao. He had loved her for decades, but it took almost losing her for him to realize that he didn't want to live another day without her. They were married a few years after the war ended.

The war hadn't just brought Shunsui and Nanao together. Since the war ended, many of the other soul reaper captains and lieutenants had mustered the courage to finally say how they felt about each other. Captain Soi Fon and Captain Zaraki were married shortly after Shunsui and Nanao and Isane Kotetsu and Shuhei Hisagi followed shortly after. It seemed the war had finally brought everyone together.

Then there were people like him. People like him and Unohana who the war had driven apart. He had been having a love affair with the gentle captain of the Fourth Division for the better part of the past century. But, it was only after the war that they were finally able to realize that their relationship was based more on friendship than anything else. They had finally decided to go their separate ways and give the each other a shot at possibly finding true love and happiness.

Shunsui had been wrong to assume that the change that he had noticed in his friend had been due him still having romantic feelings towards the now married woman. Jushiro wasn't going to lie to himself, though. It had hurt when he had received the news about a year after they had ended things for good that she was to be married to the new captain of the Third Division Shusuke Amagai. But the pain he had felt wasn't formed out of jealousy. He was gland that his good friend had finally found what she was looking for, what he couldn't provide—she had found true happiness. No, what hurt was the fact that he hadn't been able to find the same happiness with someone else—he was alone. And he was lonely. He still hadn't found his other half, his soul mate and as the years went on, he finally quit hoping to.

The wind suddenly picked up blowing the small flower out of his hand. Jushiro sighed. Maybe some people were meant to be alone.

**Please Review :)**


	3. Chapter 2: Night

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 2: Night**

Jushiro reached up pulled the two sides of his black kimono collar together when a strong breeze blew by. The forest had become significantly colder after the sun had set several hours earlier and he silently cursed himself for not wearing an extra layer of clothing. Jushiro reached into the front of his captain's haori and pulled out a white handkerchief. He lifted the handkerchief to his mouth and began to cough into the soft fabric. Pulling it away from his lips, he saw that he wasn't coughing up blood—not yet anyways.

"Captain, are you okay?" asked his third seat Kiyone Kotetsu who was sitting beside him at the front of the first wagon in the procession.

"I'm fine. The cold wind out here is just aggravating my lungs a little. Nothing to be worried about." He gave his third seat a gentle smile before turning his head back around and facing the road again.

"Ok, Captain. Let me know if you start feeling bad." They continued to ride in silence until another series of coughs began to rack Jushiro's body. "Captain, Captain!" exclaimed his third seat, her voice higher pitched than normal. Jushiro leaned over and continued to cough into his handkerchief and was nearly knocked out of the wagon when the procession came to an abrupt stop. The two horses that were pulling the wagon reared and began kicking their front legs into the air in front of them, obscuring Jushiro's view of the road. Once their front feet touched the ground again, he could finally see what had caused them to stop so abruptly. There in the middle of the road stood a man. The man blocking the road was dressed completely in black. A black mask covered the bottom third and upper third of the man's face, only revealing a pair of black eyes set against pale white skin. Jushiro quickly stood up, his right hand reflexively going to the handle of his zanpakuto.

"Hold it right there!" He commanded, his voice scratching his throat as it came out almost causing another coughing fit. The stranger cocked his head to the side, scrutinizing him for a second before reaching down for the red handle of his sword. From where he stood, Jushiro could tell that the stranger's sword was in fact a zanpakuto, although he didn't know how that was possible. He could sense no spiritual pressure coming from the stranger at all. Jushiro's grip tightened on the handle of his zanpakuto and he was about to pull it out until he felt a brush of wind against the right side of his body. He looked to the side to find that his third seat was gone. Looking ahead again, he saw that his third seat had tackled the stranger and they began to violently wrestle around on the ground.

"Kiyone, stop!" Jushiro yelled to his third seat. "He could be dangerous! Get away from him!" With that, Jushiro heard his third seat let out a shrill scream as the stranger threw her off of him, sending her crashing into the nearby woods. "Kiyone!"

Before Jushiro had the chance to run over to check on Kiyone, he was sent tumbling sideways out of the wagon. He landed on his back with a loud thud. His eyes quickly darted up to see a tall man with short blond hair who was also dressed completely in black standing where he had stood just a moment before. The man smirked at him before reaching into the front of his black kimono and pulling out a knife. He jumped down towards Jushiro, knife unsheathed. However, before the man's feet had even touched the ground Jushiro was already standing twenty feet away. One quick glance around told Jushiro that they were surrounded.

About twenty figures dressed in black had already stepped out of the darkness of the woods and were approaching the caravan. Jushiro quickly searched but found nothing—not a single trace of reitsau from the strangers who had emerging from the woods. The man who had knocked Jushiro out of the wagon was all of a sudden standing right in front of him. _How could that be?_ Jushiro wondered. _He moved so quickly—not fast enough to be shunpo, but still too fast for an ordinary soul without any reitsau._

Jushiro pulled out his zanpakuto and blocked the knife that the man had thrust towards his torso. Hearing yelling, Jushiro looked passed the man in front of him to see that all of the guards were now each fighting off the strangers that had emerged from the woods. The stranger in front of him made another attempt to plunge his knife into Jushiro's body. He easily sidestepped the attack.

A flash of silver in the corner of his eye caught Jushiro's attention and he turned his head in the direction it had come from. There laying on the ground twenty feet from him was the red handled zanpakuto that the stranger who had blocked the road had been reaching for. Kiyone must have knocked it from his hand before he could use it. At that moment Jushiro saw the black figure get up from where Kiyone had knocked him down. Seeing his zanpakuto on the ground, the stranger began running towards the abandoned weapon. Jushiro quickly kicked the man he had been fighting in the chest sending him flying backwards into the air until the motion was halted by the side of the wooden wagon.

Jushiro quickly shunpoed towards the abandoned zanpakuto reaching it a good two seconds before stranger in black did. He saw the man's black eyes widen in surprise when he had all of a sudden appeared in front of him blocking his path. The man sent a fist flying towards his stomach. Jushiro easily deflected the punch away from his body. The stranger was able to land the next punch he threw on the right side of Jushiro's face. Less than a second later, the stranger kicked him in the ribs. Jushiro fought back a yelp as he felt something crack inside. The man sent another punch flying towards Jushiro's chest. Jushiro caught the man's fist in his hands and twisted it. There was a loud snap and a yep of pain from the man in front of him. The stranger went to kick him again, but Jushiro beat him to it and kicked the man square in the stomach, knocking the air out of him and sending him flying backwards until he collided with trunk of a large tree. The man fell unconscious to the ground.

That's when it happened.

All of a sudden Jushiro's body began to burn from the reitsau that had suddenly appeared all around him. He realized after a moment that they were not new reitsaus from people who had just arrived on the scene, no—the new reitsaus he was sensing were from the people who were fighting the guards, the ones that had emerged from the woods. Their reitsau had been completely hidden until now. Considering how their reitsau levels were relatively low, Jushiro wondered how it was possible for them to have completely masked their reitsau. It took many years of practice to learn how to completely mask one's reitsau and besides himself, Jushiro only knew of a handful of other shinigami that and enough control over their spiritual pressure to be able to do so. And what had caused them to all reveal their reitsau at the same time?

A large spike in reitsau in front of him caused Jushiro to focus his attention towards the bottom of the tree where the man he had just fought lay. Large biting waves of reitsau like he had never felt before were rolling off the now unconscious stranger. The stranger's reitsau was fierce and wild, like a fire in a wheat field during the middle of summer. It burned.

The strength of the stranger's spiritual pressure was even greater than some of the captains of the Gotei 13's spiritual pressures. He was completely suprised by how the man could have possibly been living in the Soul Society with such a large spiritual pressure without anyone in the Seireitei finding out about him until now. Jushiro clutched his injured side and walked over to the base of the tree where the man lay passed out on the ground. Slowly, he reached down and tore off the stranger's mask. A long tangle of black hair fell out from underneath the mask.

Jushiro's breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened in shock.

The stranger in black wasn't a he. He was a she.

Her skin was as pale as a cherry blossom petal in the moonlight and her coal black brows were thin and delicately arched over her closed eyes. Suddenly, her thin eyelids began to flutter and then opened revealing her black eyes.

He couldn't move.

His eyes were fixed on hers. It was as if the black pools staring back at him had their own force of gravity that refused to let him look away. The sound of metal hitting metal continued to fill the night air around him as the guards and thieves continued to fight each other. Jushiro didn't even notice. He was frozen in place.

The girl blinked hard as if waking from a dream and suddenly pulled away from him, gripping the wrist that he had just dislocated and shuffling backwards until her back lay pressed flush against the trunk of the tree that she has just collided with. Her breathing was shallow and Jushiro could see her chest heaving slightly in the pale light of the moon.

"I—I'm so sorry," he stammered. "Are—are you okay?" She didn't answer, and before he could say anything else he felt his throat tighten.

A strong string of coughs began to rip through his chest, each one causing his broken rib to jab deeper and deeper into his side. Soon he could taste blood in his mouth. He reached up and cupped his hands to his mouth to stop the blood from coming out. He was so occupied with trying to breath that he didn't sense the large spiritual pressure that had appeared right behind him.

"Look out!" The voice of the girl filled the night air. Out of the corner of his eye, Jushiro could see a large clawed hand headed directly towards him. Before he could tell his body to move, the girl had already run into him sending him flying until they both crashed onto the ground, rolling over each other a few times from the force of the motion until they finally came to a stop a few feet from her previously abandoned zanpakuto.

She quickly got off from on top of him and grabbed her zanpakuto up off the ground before standing up. Jushiro quickly stumbled to feet as the hollow let out a loud howl that pierced through the night sky. The hollow was large and reminiscently looked like a three story tall praying mantis. The girl positioned herself between him and the hollow and before he had a chance to yell at her to move out of the way another violent cough shout through his chest, causing the words to catch in his throat. The hollow reared back on his hind legs and as he came back down he stretched one of his long clawed hands out, ready to pound both him and the girl into the ground. Jushiro stumbled several feet forward towards the girl, determined to pull her out of the way so that the hollow couldn't squash her. At that moment she turned her head back around to face him and she placed a firm hand on his chest, stopping him. With her other hand, the girl held out her zanpakuto in front of her.

"Stand still."

After saying that, the girl plunged her zanpakuto into the ground in front of her. A strong gust of wind shout past Jushiro tearing at the bottom of his captains' haori causing it to snap loudly. The next moment, everything went silent.

It was as if of the sound in the world had suddenly been sucked out by a vacuum.

Jushiro looked down to see that the girl's hand was still pressing against the black fabric of his kimono. When Jushiro looked back at the girl and the hollow in front of him, his eyes grew wide in shock.

The larger clawed hand of the hollow that had previously been on a path to crush them had come to a complete stop a mere foot above their heads. The bleached white mask that covered the hollow's face shone brightly in the light of the moon. Two black pits in the mask indicated where eyes should have been the hollow's long semicircular mouth was pulled up in a hideously horrible smile.

Frozen.

The hollow was frozen.

Everything was frozen.

Glancing past the hollow Jushiro could see the guards and the thieves frozen in mid action fighting each other. One of the guards standing closest to him held a knife in his had that was aimed up at the thief standing in front of him, merely an inch away from making contact with the man's stomach. Further away there was a thief who had been frozen in mid-air as he had been jumping from one wagon to the next. About thirty feet off to his left, Jushiro saw his third seat Kiyone running towards him, frozen in midstride. _What's happening?_ He wondered. _How is this possible?_ He had never heard of such a thing happening before, it was as if time had stopped completely.

The movement of the girl in front of him snapped Jushiro out of his stunned stupor. She removed her hand from his chest and then pulled the zanpakuto out of where she had stuck it into the ground. She sure as hell wasn't frozen like everyone else and—Jushiro brought his right hand up and opened and closed his fist several times—neither was he. He was too stunned about what was happening to say anything.

There was no other sound besides the sound of his ragged breathing and the soft thud of the woman's shoes as she walked over to the large hollow before them. In one single fluid motion, the girl jumped up and swung her zanpakuto at the hollow creating a large gash from the top right to the bottom left of his hollow mask. The hollow didn't move at all.

After that Jushiro watched as she walked around to the people who had been fighting. She removed the sword from the guard who was about to stab the man in the stomach and threw if deep into the woods. She did the same thing with the rest of the people who were frozen fighting, disarming them one by one and tossing their weapons aside.

When the girl had finished disarming everyone, she finally turned and faced Jushiro again. She began walking towards him, her right arm clutched against her chest. She sheathed her zanpakuto and then closed the distance between them. She was now standing right in front of him.

Neither of them moved. It was as if for a moment they had frozen in time like the rest of the world. She stared at him with eyes as black as the night and he could do nothing but stare back at her. Then, slowly, she lifted her left arm and pressed it once again to his chest.

With her touch came the wind. Lots of it.

It was as if someone was forcing air into him.

It dried out his throat and he began to choke on it.

The sound returned shortly afterwards. Over the sounds that came out of his chest as his lungs tried to jump into his throat, Jushiro could hear the people who had been fighting gasp in surprise as they realized that they no longer had weapons in their hands. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was able to register the fact that the hollow had began to dissolve away.

"Captain!" Jushiro looked up to see his third seat Kiyone no longer frozen and now quickly closing the distance between them. He continued coughing, unable to control the actions of his lungs. Soon he was lightheaded and could see black and white static form at the periphery of his vision as his ears began to ring. He looked back to where the girl with black eyes had been standing only to find that she was now gone.

The ringing in his ears came to an abrupt stop.

The world went black.

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	4. Chapter 3: The Fourth

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 3: The Fourth**

Through the fog that clouded his mind, Jushiro could make out the faint sound of voices. As the moments passed, the voices became clear and clearer until he could finally make out what they were saying.

"Will he be alright, Captain?" he heard his third seat ask in a panicked voice.

"We healed his broken rib and his lungs seem to be fine now. He'll be fine," replied a voice that he immediately recognized as belonging to Retsu Unohana. Her presence plus the faint smell of bleach and alcohol confirmed his suspicions—he was in the fourth division although he couldn't remember how he had gotten there. He slowly opened his eyes and stared up at the white ceiling above him. A moment later he heard a swish of fabric and looked over to see Captain Unohana enter the small room from behind a white curtain wall.

"I'm glad to see that you're finally awake," said the captain as she smiled down at him, "You had us all worried there for a minute."

"Wha-what happened?" asked Jushiro while trying to sit up. The motion caused his head to throb violently and he quickly let himself fall back into the large white bed below him.

"It's best if you don't move just yet," she said as she walked over and placed a cold hand on his forehead. She quickly scanned his reitsau before pulling her hand away. "You seem to be alright now. You passed out after having a coughing attack. Captain Kurotsuchi and several of the members of the Twelfth Division were out in the woods doing research when they suddenly sensed a sharp spike of reitsau followed by the presence of a hollow. They ran over check things out and found you unconscious." At that moment it all came back to him—the woods, the hollow, the girl.

"We were ambushed."

"Yes, I know. Captain Kurotsuchi and his division members sensed foreign traces of reitsau all around when they arrived on the scene. Kiyone explained what had happened and they were able to chase the attackers down in the woods. They're being detained here in the Seireitei until the Head Captain decides what to do with them."

"There was a girl with them," Jushiro stammered as he sat up, ignoring the throbbing in his head. "I think I might have hurt her. Was she caught? Is she alright?"

"They did catch a girl. She had a zanpakuto with her."

"That's her," replied Jushiro. "Is she alright?"

"I wouldn't know," she replied with a sigh. "They took away her zanpakuto and then placed her in a cell separate from the others. I went to check on her earlier but wasn't able to examine her. She won't let anyone go near her. It's strange though—I couldn't even do a reitsau check on her. She has no spiritual pressure coming off of her at all."

"She's hiding it," replied Jushiro. "I managed to knock her out when we were fighting and all of a sudden huge waves of reitsau were coming off of her. It's incredible, the amount of reitsau she has."

"I figured as much," replied Unohana, "How else would she be able to have a zanpakuto without having a relatively high reitsau level. It sure is impressive though, how she manages to keep it all sealed up like that."

"Excuse me, Captain." Jushiro and Unohana both turned to face where the voice had come from. Hanataro stood peaking from behind the white curtain that served as the door. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt you, but Captain Zaraki has just come in and he's pretty banged up."

"Already?" Unohana pushed back the white sleeve of her captain's haori to glance at a delicate gold watch that hugged her writ. Here black brows furrowed. "It's not even nine in the morning yet. The Eleventh Division usually doesn't start reckless fighting amongst themselves until at least noon on Sundays."

"Umm, well it wasn't his squad who roughed him up, Captain." Hanataro stepped back from behind the curtain, his eyes cast down on the ground and his hands nervously knotting the bottom on his kimono top. "You see, he forgot that today was his and Captain Soifon's wedding anniversary and she was the one who beat him up."

"Good grief," exclaimed captain Unohana as she rolled her eyes. "You think that he would learn to remember things like that. I just hope she didn't beat him as bad as she did when he forgot her birthday." Unohana sighed and turned back around to Jushiro. "Hanataro will stay here and take care of that black eye for you. You can leave as soon as he's finished." She gave him an apologetic smile. "Now if you could please excuse me, I need to go take care of Zaraki. Although, I really don't see the point—Soi Fon will have him back in here before I know it." With that, the gentle captain turned and left the room.

"I'll take care of that eye for you captain," said Hanataro as he stepped further into the room.

"No, don't worry about it. I'll be fine, I just need to get out of here." Hanataro raised an eyebrow and after a brief internal debate, he decided that it would be best if he didn't argue with the captain. He bowed and then turned to leave. "Wait a minute," called Jushiro. Hanataro turned back around one hand clutching the white curtain in front of him. "The thieves from the forest, do you know where they are being detained?"

"I believe I heard Lieutenant Kotetsu mention earlier that they are currently being held in the Twelfth Division detention cells."

He thanked Hanataro and the boy turned and exited the room quietly. Jushiro got up out of bed. His head was still throbbing slightly and his side was sore, but besides that, he felt fine. He pulled his white Captain's haori and zanpakuto off of the chair that was standing near the bed and put them back on before turning to head towards the Twelfth Division.

**Review Please :)**


	5. Chapter 4: Hate

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach**

**Before anyone gets confused, this chapter is the first that is told from Miya's (aka girl Jushiro met in the woods) point of view**

**Chapter 4: Hate**

Miya hated soul reapers. She hated the way they would look down on anyone who wasn't a soul reaper. She hated the way they demanded respect just because they had power, power that used to take whatever they wanted from those who had none. She hated how hypocritical they were. She hated everything about them.

Her father had been a soul reaper and a high ranking one at that. Once upon a time, her mother had been a young talented girl from one of the poorest districts of Rukongai who had managed to make it into the Shinigami Academy. Shortly after starting as a student, she fell madly in love with her one of her teachers. She was exuberant when she found out that he loved her in return and although it was forbidden for a student and teacher to love each other, at the time, it didn't matter to them. They loved each other anyways. They hid their relationship from everyone, happy to love each other in secret if that was the only way they could be together. And for a while, they were happy.

But, her mother's fairy tale romance didn't have a happy ending.

When she had confessed to her father that she was pregnant, he told her that he didn't want to have anything to do with her or the baby. He had threatened, demanding that she get rid of it. He told her that if word ever got out about her being pregnant he would be ruined. He would lose his position, his respect, and most importantly his reputation.

So, broken hearted and betrayed, her mother fled from the Seireitei.

Miya's mother raised her in a small house on the outskirts of the Soul Society. Miya's spiritual pressure began to increase rapidly soon after she was born and by the time she was four, Miya's mother was already training her how to use her powers. She taught her how to materialize her zanpakuto, how to boil water for soup with kido, and most importantly—how to conceal her spiritual pressure entirely. Her mother was always afraid that one day her father might come looking for them. Seeing him again was the last thing her mother had ever wanted to do, so she taught Miya how to hide herself so that no one could ever hurt her.

When Miya was ten, she and her mother moved back into the Rukongai district. It was then that Miya had her first encounter with a Soul Reaper.

It was a warm summer afternoon and Miya was sitting out on the roof of her apartment building staring at the rooftops that seemed to stretch off endlessly into the distance. She heard some yelling from the street below and looked down to see what the commotion was. Standing in the street was a group of five boys about her age surrounding a tall shinigami. The shinigami was holding a small loaf of bread in his hand high over the boys heads.

"Hey!" yelled one of the boys in the group. His blonde curls bounced as he jumped up and down trying to snatch the piece of bread out of the shinigami's hand. "That's ours!"

"Humph, little street rats with barley any reitsau like you don't need food. It'd be wasted on you." And with that, the shinigami took a big bite out of the loaf of bread and swallowed. He turned around and began to walk away chewing on the bread as he went.

"Kazuma, I'm hungry," said the smallest boys in the group to the boy with curly blonde hair.

"Come on, lets go," said one of the others in the group. All but Kazuma turned to leave. From her spot on the roof, Miya could see as his hand ball into a fist and his brows furrow in anger. The blonds haired boy took off running after the shinigami that had stolen their meal and tackled him from behind. The shinigami went crashing down to the ground, the half eaten piece of bread falling out of his hand and onto the ground.

"What tha?—" exclaimed the confused shinigami but his words were cut off short when Kazuma had managed to land a punch on his left cheek. "Owwwwwww! Why you stupid little punk!" Kazuma was about to send another fist crashing into his skull but before he had a chance to do so, the shinigami threw him off of him sending him crashing against the apartment building wall. "You stupid little piece of trash. Don't ever mess with someone who is more powerful and important than you." The shinigami walked over to where the boy had fallen. His eyes were menacing and hard as he swiftly kicked him in the stomach. Miya saw the blonde haired boy doubled over in pain as the shinigami walked away.

"Kazuma, are you okay?" exclaimed the group of boys as they ran over to check on their injured friend.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he said, his voice strained and rough. He slowly stood up and clutched his stomach as he walked over to the half eaten piece of bread that had been knocked from the shinigami's hand. He picked it up and brushed the dirt that had gotten on it off before walking back over to his friends and handing the piece of bread over to them. The boys quickly split up the remainder of the bread between them. When one of the boys handed Kazuma a piece, he lifted up his hand in protest. "No, I'm okay. You guys eat."

Miya saw many other instances like the first over the years. Times when shinigami treated souls like trash just because they didn't possess as much reitsau as they did. She knew that it didn't matter whether you possessed a little reitsau or a lot—hunger was hunger. Keep a soul with little reitsau away from food long enough and he to would starve. Shinigami where nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites. They all claimed to be the saviors and protectors of the Soul Society, but in the end, they were merely protecting themselves.

Miya had decided a long time ago that she wasn't going to put up with the abuse of power from the shinigami. No, she was going to do something about it. She was going to help those who didn't have enough power to help themselves. That's why she had done it. That's why she had put together the band of night thieves and started stealing from the supply caravans that would pass through the woods at night.

Miya hated shinigami. But, at the current moment, she hated something even more than shinigami.

She hated the fact that she had been caught.

Miya sat on top of a low bed with her back pressed against the cold grey cinderblocks of a small prison cell. She'd only been sitting in the cell for the past four hours, but she was already starting to develop cabin fever. She lifted her hand palm up in front of her and attempted to make a kido ball.

Nothing. The shinigami hadn't been lying when they had told her that the cell would neutralize her reitsau.

She was starting to get worried. Without her reitsau, she hadn't been able to check on her friends to see if they were okay. They had been split up when they had arrived at the detention center and she had no idea where they were now. In fact, she didn't have any idea where she was either. She had never been to the Seireitei before.

She sighed and lifted her injured arm up and pressed it to her chest. Her whole hand was stuck in a backwards curve making her forearm and hand look like a dinner fork. It hurt like hell and she couldn't straighten it out at all. By the way one of her arm bones stood out from under her wrist, she knew that her hand was dislocated.

Unbelievable.

She wondered where everything had gone wrong. It was a simple plan to follow: stop the caravan, sneak up on the guards, steal the goods out from underneath them, and then take off running before they even knew what had hit them. They had carried out the plan flawlessly many times before, why couldn't they have done so again?

She let out a huff and brought her knees to her chest resting her forehead on top of them. A few minutes later the sound of heavy footsteps echoed down the marble hallway outside of the cell. The sound of steps became louder and louder until they came to a stop in front of her cell. She looked up, expecting to see the shinigami with the weird makeup and hat outside again. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw that it was someone else entirely.

A pale face with dark brown eyes stared back at her from behind the evenly spaced prison cell bars. Long strands of white hair framed his face and fell half way down his chest. His thick black brows were furrowed causing two creases to form in between his eyes. She had never seen such a guilty face.

"Um, hello," he said, his voice low and coarse. He coughed to clear his throat and when he continued, his voice was smoother. "I, uh, just thought I would come and check on you." She didn't answer and looked away. In the corner of her eye, Miya could see the man beginning to nervously tug on the left sleeve of his white haori. "I really am terribly sorry,' the man said in a quick rush, "I really didn't mean to, well….I….if I would have known I wouldn't of—"

"Forget about it. Now would you please quit trying to apologize?" Mia asked, turning her head to glare at him. The man's eyebrows furrowed even deeper and he cast his eyes to the ground. He started tugging even harder on the sleeve of his white haori.

"I just want you to know that I really—"

"That's enough. I believe you, alright?"

"You do?" the man's black brows lifted in a surprised expression.

"Yeah. You look like you've just killed a kitten." The man's brows remained elevated for a few moments longer before they finally relaxed to their normal position. Miya sighed and her knees slid down away from her chest.

"You're hurt!" the man exclaimed on catching sight of the injured arm she had pressed to her chest. The man took a step closer to the cell and Miya quickly started moving further down the bed away from the cell bars and the man outside them. The man stopped moving. "It looks pretty bad," he said after a moment of silence. "Let me see it. Maybe I can help."

"Don't worry about it," Miya snapped without looking at him. The man was quiet for a moment.

"Please." The utter hopelessness of his tone caused Miya to look back over at him. He looked miserably guilty. If he had looked like he had killed a kitten before, he now looked like he had killed a baby. Although she wanted to say no, there was something about those chocolate brown eyes of his that drew her in. She could tell that he was being sincere, that he didn't want to hurt her. So, even though her head told her not to, she slowly began to inch her way down the bed and towards the cell bars. She hesitated for a moment when she reached the end of the bed before slowly sticking her right hand out between two of the bars. Once her hand was outside the cell, the man slowly walked towards her and ever go gently took her injured hand in the two of his. The warmth of his hands on hers caused a shiver to shoot down her back as he ever so gently began to flip her hand over in his.

"You're hand appears to be dislocated," he said in a low voice after a few moments of examining it. "I'm afraid that if you leave it this way for much longer you might risk having your hand permanently damaged. I could snap if back in place for you." She looked up and her eyes were caught by his gentle gaze. She couldn't speak, she just nodded her head slightly.

"I'll count to three and then snap it back into place, okay?" Miya nodded again, still staring him straight in the eyes. "One, two—"

Miya felt a bolt of pain travel from her hand up her arm. It felt as if her hand had just been snapped off. She let out a strangled groan. She shut her eyes and pressed her head hard against the cell bars, waiting for the pain to stop.

"I thought you said that you were going to go on three," she groaned.

"It's worse if you anticipate the pain." She could hear a slight smile in the man's voice and looked up to see a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. She then glanced down at her hand. Besides the slight swelling around her wrist, her arm looked normal again. The man slowly flipped her hand over again. "Try it." Miya slowly began to open and close her fist. "See, good as new."

"Thank you," she said in a small voice.

"Forget about it," he replied.

The sudden sound of footsteps approaching startled Miya. She quickly yanked her hand out of the mans and back through the bars of the cell.

"Captain Ukitake, what are you doing? Get away from her!" It was the weird looking man with the makeup and hat again. Miya cringed. He had been trying to get close enough to her to draw out a blood sample since the moment they had caught her in the woods. He really creeped her out. "She isn't to be tampered with. She is a prisoner of the Twelfth Division, and until I get an opportunity to run some tests on her, she isn't to so much as even speak with anyone!"

"I'm sorry, but since when do you have the permission to experiment on people being detained?"

"Since they're being detained in my detention unit, that's when!" The man with the weird hat glared at the white haired man with his harsh yellow brown eyes.

"I seriously doubt the Head Captain would ever give you the permission to experiment on anyone being held for questioning."

"He didn't have to give me permission. The prisoner is being held on my division's property and that means that I get full rights to doing whatever I want to them!"

"Oh no it doesn't." Both men turned in the direction the third voice had come from. A second later a tall boy about twenty three years old stepped in front of the prison cell. This was the first time Miya had seen him. He had bright orange hair and a scowl seemed to be permanently etched onto his face.

"Captain Kurosaki! What is the meaning of this interruption?" exclaimed the man with the weird hat.

"The Head Captain recently informed me that there were several individuals being held here for questioning. I came here to make sure that you weren't abusing prisoners again."

"Abuse prisoners? Why, I've never done such a thing." The defensive tone then man with the weird hat had used suggested otherwise.

"Save it Kurotsuchi. We're all fully aware that you like to experiment on anyone who is detained her that you deem 'interesting.' Head Captain Yamamoto sent me here to remind you that although this detention facility is on the Twelfth Division property, it is in fact a joint detention centers for squads Five and Twelve. And, as long as I am Captain of Squad Five, no one being detained here will be subjected to your inappropriate abuse."

"What?!?! Why you little—"

"If you don't like it, I suggest you take this matter up with the Head Captain himself." The man with the weird had let out a frustrated groan before turning on his heel and stomping off down the hallway.

"He's going to be mad at you for a while, Ichigo," said the man with the white hair as he turned to face the boy with the scowl.

"Please, the Mad Hatter there doesn't scare me. Now when Rukia's mad, that's another story." The man with white hair laughed at the comment. "Now, I'm sorry Jushiro, but I do have to ask you to leave with me. You know the rules—captains from other divisions aren't allowed to visit detention centers that aren't their own unless they have permission from the Head Captain."

"Yes, of course." The man with white hair turned and nodded at Miya. He gave her a small smile before turning and following the tall orange haired captain down the hallway.

"Do you know when she will be appearing before the Head Captain?" she head the white haired man ask the other captain as they walked down the hallway.

"Tomorrow afternoon. Some of the other captains are gone and that's the soonest that everyone will be back…." Miya strained to hear, but their voices were too far away for her to make out what they were saying anymore. She let out a loud sigh and then leaned back against the cold cell wall.

What a day.

She fought back the urge to scan the area for reitsau again. It would do no good. She'd have to wait until tomorrow to find out her fate and that of her friends. At the current moment she could do nothing besides hope and pray that they were alright.

She looked down at her still slightly swollen wrist. The tall white haired shinigami was odd. He was unlike any of the shinigami that she had ever met before. Instead of having cold hard eyes, his were gentle and kind. He had seemed sincerely sorry for having injured her and had even fixed her hand. Could she have been wrong? Could there actually be shinigami who were gentle and actually cared for others beside themselves? Miya quickly shook her head as if to shake the thought form her mind.

No, even if the white haired shinigami was kind and unlike anyone she had ever met before, it made no difference.

She still hated shinigami.

**A/N: Yeah! Another chapter done! I'm still working on the next chapter. Hopefully I'll have it up within the next few days. Thank you for reading!**

**If you were wondering, Ukitake is appolagizing to Miya because he hit her and she's a girl. Ukitake refuses to fight in the presence of women and children. He feels terrible for having fought a girl even though he had no idea that she was a girl at the time. Shunsui is the same way.**

**Please Review :)**


	6. Chapter 5: Fight

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 5: Fight**

Jushiro had been uneasy ever since he had visited the detention center the day before. Although he was pretty sure that they would merely incarcerate most of the thieves who had been captured considering how most of them had very little reitsau, they girl on the other hand was a different story. Several other captains had already noticed that she was different, that she was hiding some sort of power even though she wasn't releasing any reitsau, her zanpakuto was proof of that. The Gotei 13 Court Guard Squads didn't like not knowing about people with great power who lived in such close proximity to them. Jushiro was worried that they would consider the girl as a dangerous threat, one that needed to be eliminated.

"Jushiro, what has you so anxious?" Jushiro turned to see Shunsui approaching.

"What do you mean?" Jushiro asked. He thought he was doing a good job of hiding it.

"Well, for starters, you're tugging on your haori sleeve so hard, it looks like you're about to rip it off. Second of all, you're twenty minutes early for the captain's meeting. No one's ever that excited about hearing old man Yamamoto blab."

"Well, I just—wait a minute—what are you doing here so early? You're usually the last one to come in!"

"Oh, well you see, the girls decided that they wanted to 'give Daddy a makeover' while I was taking a nap on the couch. I woke up as they were about to start painting my nails and took off before they convinced me to let them." Shunsui lifted his arm up and rubbed his eyelid. "Did I get all the eye shadow off?"

"Yeah, I don't see any, but—are you wearing mascara?" Shunsui rubbed his eyelashes and pulled his hand away, a giant smudge of black on his fingers and under his eye.

"Drat," he huffed. He reached his hand back up to rub his eye and that's when Jushiro saw it. He reached for a blue ribbon sticking out from underneath Shunsui's hat and tugged.

"Shunsui, what's this?" he asked. His friend reached up and began tugging on the ribbon that his friend had pointed out. When it didn't come out, he took his straw hat off. Jushiro couldn't help but laugh as his friend ran his hand through his hair only to discover that it was filled with a ton of tiny brightly colored bows and bright yellow plastic animal shaped clips.

"Not again," he groaned. "I'll be back. I better go wash off the rest of the mascara and get these bows out of my hair. I'll see you when I get back."

Jushiro waved at his friend and when the meeting room doors opened ten minutes later, he went ahead and entered. Ichigo arrived shortly after he entered. He and Jushiro talked happily until Byakuya arrived. As soon as the noble stepped foot in the room Ichigo shut up. His eyebrows furrowed deeper than normal as he glared off into space. Byakuya chose to ignore Ichigo's presence too and merely stared harshly at the ground in front of him.

Byakuya and Ichigo hadn't been on the best of terms ever since Ichigo and Rukia had gotten married without his consent. At first, Ichigo had thought that Byakuya disapproved of him as a suitor for his sister because he was an unranked shinigami. After a couple of years of intense training, Ichigo was finally appointed as the captain of Squad Five. To his dismay however, Byakuya still disapproved of him. When it became apartment that the noble wasn't going to give his sister consent to marry anyone who wasn't a noble, Rukia and Ichigo ran away together. They were gone for a week and when they came back, they were married. Besides discussing matters that concerned their squads whenever the two of them had to work together, Ichigo and Byakuya didn't really speak to each other. The tension between them was tangible. Even being in the same room with the both of them was enough to make Jushiro uncomfortable.

The meeting room became even more uncomfortable when the next captain entered. Toshiro Hitsugaya quickly made his way to his spot and stood there with his arms crossed tightly across his chest. His face was pulled into an ever deeper scowl than Ichigo currently wore. The cold biting waves of reitsau that radiated from the young captain were a dead giveaway that he had just come back from the world of the living.

The young captain had had his share of despair and heartache in the years following the war. During an extended mission that he had in the world of the living, Toshiro had met and fallen in love with Karin Kurosaki, Ichigo's younger sister. Once his extended mission had ended, the young captain had continued to visit Karin whenever he went to the world of the living. Time passed and Karin continued to age while Toshiro physically remained the same age he had been when they first had met. Eventually, the age difference began effect their relationship.

Wishing to live a life with her rather than without her, Toshiro had decided to leave the Soul Society. Toshiro and Karin were supposed to meet up in the world of the living and run away together, but, the night that Toshiro was supposed to leave, he was stopped by the head captain and was incarcerated. After all, soul reaper captains were not allowed to just leave the Gotei 13 Court Guard Squads of their own accord. When Toshiro was finally released, he quickly went to the world of the living, but it was too late. Thinking that he no longer wanted her since he had not shown up the night they were supposed to run away together, Karin had moved on. When Toshiro had found her, she was walking hand in hand with another man and had the other hand pressed against a very large pregnant belly. Toshiro was heartbroken.

He returned to the soul society where he resumed his duties as captain of Squad Ten. But even now, it was a well known fact that anytime Toshiro traveled to the world of the living, he would make the two hour trip from Karakura Town into the country and sit on a hill overlooking a small cottage where an old woman would sit on the front porch softly singing to herself for hours. Even though she had moved on, he had never stopped loving her.

Jushiro cursed himself for being so early when he saw who entered the room next. Captain Soi Fon was practically fuming as she stomped into the room. Captain Zaraki trailed close behind her, a white bandage wrapped around his head and his right arm in a sling. Zaraki took his place besides Jushiro. Jushiro shot his fellow captain a sympathetic glance.

"Dude, whatever you do, do not get married," Zaraki muttered to Jushiro under his breath. A growl came from across the room and Jushiro and Zaraki looked over to see where it had come from. Soi Fon was shooting daggers out of her eyes at Zaraki.

The remaining captains arrived soon afterwards and took their position in line. Shunsui was the last to arrive, squeaking past the guard just seconds before he closed the meeting room door. The door at the back of the meeting hall creaked loudly as the head captain emerged from behind it. He was closely followed by his lieutenant who stood next to the him when he took his seat at a large desk at the head of the two lines of soul reaper captains. The old man glanced at the captains making sure that they were all there before banging the end of his wooden cane against the floor.

"I now call this meeting of the Gotei 13 Court Guard Squad Captains to order." Jushiro was beginning to feel nervous again. "Now, as you have all been made aware, those who were responsible for the robberies that have been taking place at night in the western woods have been caught. We are currently holding all fifteen night bandits including their leader in the Fifth and Twelve Division Detention Center. Although we are absolutely sure that they are all guilty of the crimes that they have been charged with, we are going to allow the leader of the group to speak on their behalf before any sentencing is done. Guard!" With that, the guard at the back of the room opened the door and in walked the girl with black eyes. She was sandwiched between two shinigami who held onto her roughly by the arms. They walked past Jushiro and stopped when they reached the center of the two lines of shinigami captains.

There was a loud crash at the front of the room and Jushiro looked up in time to see Head Captain Yamamoto, eyes wide in surprise as he stared at the girl that had just entered the room. He recovered quickly as his lieutenant retrieved his cane from where he had dropped it on the floor. Jushiro couldn't believe what he had just seen. In all the years that he had known the head captain, never had he seen him lose his composure and show any emotion besides anger. What had caused him to do so now?

"What is your name miss?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly.

"Miya. Miya Tanaka," replied the girl, voice hard. The head captain's hand began to visibly tremble as he gripped the rounded top of his cane. He quickly picked his cane up and laid it flat across the table in front of him. Jushiro looked around the room to see all of the captains exchanging questioning glances at one another. The Head Captain cleared his throat before speaking again.

"Miss, you have been accused of leading a group of thieves that have been stealing food and supplies from several of the noble families here in the Soul Society. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Yes, I am responsible for that which I am being accused," responded the girl.

"Do you have any remorse? Any regrets for your actions?"

"Of course not." That clearly was not the response the head captain had expected to hear. When he spoke again, his voice was laced with anger.

"Would you care to explain why not?"

"Why should I feel bad for taking something that should have been given to us in the first place?"

"What do you mean by that?" The head captain's eyes narrowed as he glared at the girl in front of him.

"What I stole was merely food. It's not as if any noble family I have ever seen has been starving. I merely took from those who had enough, I took what they could spare or easily replace. As I'm sure some of you know, food is pretty scarce in Rukongai. And, although most of the people in Rukongai don't have as much spiritual pressure as a shinigami living in the Seireitei, hunger is still hunger. Souls can starve as well." Jushiro was taken aback for a minute. He didn't know that the girl and the night theieves were turning right back around and giving what they had stolen to the people living in Rukongai.

"But it wasn't just food that you took now was it." The head captain picked up a piece of paper that had been sitting on his desk. He read over it before continuing. "The other things you stole—matches, cloth, candlesticks, what reason do you have for taking them?"

"It gets cold in the winter sir," was her simple response. The head captain placed the piece of paper back on his desk and then glared at the girl with half closed eyes.

"Unfortunately for you and your friends, theft is not a crime that we look upon lightly in the Soul Society. I believe that everyone here will agree with me that an period of imprisonment will be enough to remind you all what happens when you take something that is not yours."

"Imprisonment? For how long?" asked the girl.

"Ten or Twenty. Years. For you and each of your little thieving friends." The girl was clearly upset by what the head captain had just said attempted to move forward only to be restrained by the two shinigami that held her by the arms.

"You can't do that!" she exclaimed, desperation in her voice.

"I'm the Head Captain, I can do whatever I want." The head captain lifted his cane off of the table and was about to bang it against the floor signaling the end of the meeting. Jushiro was about to object but the girl beat him to it.

"Wait!" she exclaimed. The head captain stopped and looked at the girl, his cane an inch above the ground.

"Please," she said, her voice low and pleading, "Please, let them go. I'll stay."

"Of course you'll be staying here. You have a prison sentence to fulfill."

"That's not what I meant," replied the girl.

"Oh, what do you mean then?"

"I'll stay for the duration of everyone's sentence."

"Everyone's sentence? If we gave each one the minimum amount of prison time, that would mean you would be here at least 150 years."

"I know," the girl replied as she cast her eyes down to the ground.

"And what makes you think that we would be willing to allow you to remain and carry out everyone's sentence while letting the others go?"

"Because, I have something that you might want."

"What could you possibly have that the Gotei 13 Court Guard Squads would ever want?" asked Captain Hisagi.

"The power of my zanpakuto. It's rather unique. I think that you would find having a zanpakuto like mine on your side rather advantageous." The head captain paused and cocked his head to the side as if he were considering what she had just said.

"Head Captain, this is ridiculous." Jushiro turned to see Captain Kurotsuchi addressing the head captain. "She's probably bluffing. We did find the girl with a zanpakuto, that much is true. But considering how she is releasing no reitsau, her zanpakuto might just be for show and she might possess little to no reitsau at all. I ask that you allow me to experiment on her and determine if she is in fact interesting." _So typical of Kurotsuchi_, thought Jushiro. _He's always looking for an excuse to experiment on people_.

At that moment there was a fierce spike of reitsau in the room. It roared and boiled for a moment before subsiding. Although it hadn't been as strong as it had been in the woods, the reitsau that the girl let out momentarily before she hid it again was amazing. The other captains began exchange surprised looks.

"Are there anymore question about whether or not I might be of use here?" the girl asked, her hard tone back.

"Miss, possessing great spiritual pressure doesn't necessarily mean that your zanpakuto is particularly special," commented Captain Amagai.

"I can assure you that it most certainly is." All the captains turned to face Jushiro. "Head Captain, I have personally seen the girl use her zanpakuto and I can honestly say, it is unlike anything I have ever seen before in all my years as a shinigami." The head captain thought it over for a moment.

"Very well then," he said finally. "In order to settle this matter, we will allow the girl to demonstrate the abilities of her zanpakuto. We will allow a fight between this girl and one of our Gotei 13 Court Guard Squad captains." The head captain looked down at the girl. "If you win, we will honor your request and let your friends go while you stay here in the Seireitei and work for the Gotei 13 Court Guard Squads until you fulfill your sentence as well as that of each of your friends. If you lose—"

"I won't." If he hadn't known better, Jushiro could have sworn that he saw the ghost of a smile cross the old man's lips.

"Now, which one of you captains will be the one to challenge the girl and see if in fact she is as unique and powerful as she says she is?" Jushiro was about to step forward before Zaraki had a chance to. They were both stunned, however, when Byakuya beat them to it and stepped out first. He turned and walked up to the head captain's desk.

"With your permission Head Captain, I would like the opportunity to challenge the girl," said Byakuya in his cold emotionless voice. The calmness of his voice wasn't fooling Jushiro. Byakuya would never have volunteer for such a thing if he didn't have a personal investment in the matter. The head captain looked him over for a moment before answering.

"Very well then," replied the old man. "We will set up the fight for tomorrow. We can have it at the Division One training grounds."

"I would rather get it done with now," replied the girl.

"No, the field is currently being used and we sure can't have you two battle in here. I don't want the meeting room to be destroyed again."

"If anyone makes a mess it'll be him," replied the girl as she nodded her head towards Byakuya. The head captain thought it over for a moment before answering.

"Fine. Guard! Bring the girl's zanpakuto." The guard opened the front door and ran outside only to reappear a few moments later with the red handled zanpakuto that Jushiro recognized as belonging to the girl.

"This is foolish," said Captain Komamura. "How do we know that she won't just use her powers to escape right now?" The girl turned her head and glared at the furry captain.

"I don't know what kind of person you are," she said, her tone critical, "but I sure as hell am not the kind to runaway and leave my friends behind." The canine captain looked down at the floor.

"Please go to the back of the room Captain Kuchiki. Miss, you can remain at the front." Following the head captain's orders, the guards released the girl from their grip and handed her her zanpakuto. Byakuya made his way towards the back of the room but stopped when he was standing right next to the girl. Although he was speaking in a low voice, Jushiro could still hear what he was saying.

"Three of the caravans that you robbed from belonged to my family," he said in an icy voice as he glared at her from the corners of his eyes. The girl turned her head to look at him. "I hate it when people disrespect my family."

"Does that mean then that you hate me?" she challenged.

"It simply means that I will not be holding back." With that, he continued to walk towards the back of the room. The girl walked towards the front of the room and stopped just feet away from the head captain's desk. She turned to face Byakuya.

"What do I have to do in order to win?" she asked the head captain over her right shoulder.

"You must either disarm him or kill him," he responded. "Take your positions." Byakuya and the girl both removed their zanpakutos from their sheaths and held them out in front of them. Jushiro saw the girl glance in his direction and their eyes meeting for a fraction of a second before her eyes narrowed at Byakuya.

"This should be interesting," commented Zaraki under his breath to Jushiro. Jushiro merely nodded slightly and desperately fought the urge to tug on the sleeve of his captain's haori.

"You may begin on the count of three. One, two, three—" There was a sudden burst of wind and Jushiro quickly raised his arm up to shield his eyes. When he lowered his arm, he was shocked by the sight he saw before him. Byakuya hadn't been able to move an inch. He still stood at the back of the room, his body poised ready for battle. His eyes which normally showed no form of emotion were wide in shock. The girl stood right next to him. In her left hand she held Senbonzakura at the front of Byakuya's throat and in her right she held her own zanpakuto at the back of his neck. He couldn't move an inch without having one or the other zanpakuto cut into his flesh. There were gasps from several of the captains in the room and a low murmur of voiced began to penetrate the tense quite. The girl stood there with both zanpakutos held to Byakuya's throat for a few moments before letting them drop. She sheathed her zanpakuto before she flipped Byakuyas' in her hand and held it out for him to take. He slowly took it and placed it back in his sheath. Although he tried to hide his anger, low waves of furious reitsau still managed to radiate from him.

The girl slowly made her way up the aisle and stopped in front of the head captain's desk.

"I win."

"So you did," replied the head captain in a tone that suggested that he hadn't expected her to win any more than Byakuya had. "Captain Kurotsuchi, please see to it that all of the prisoners being held in the Fifth and Twelfth Division Detention Center are released and escorted out of the Seireitei." The captain nodded. "And Captain Kurosaki," Ichigo looked at the head captain. "Please make sure that all of the prisoners make it out safely." Ichigo smiled and nodded. Captain Kurotsuchi huffed and angrily crossed his arms across his chest.

"Captain Ukitake," Jushiro looked up at the head captain. "Would you have any objections to Miss Tanaka staying with your squad until we are able to find a permanent spot for her?"

"Of course not captain. I would be glad to have her in my squad." Jushiro saw Shunsui glance at him. He gave Jushiro a devious smile.

"It's settled then. Have Kiyone help her get settled into Squad Thirteen. Meeting adjourned." The head captain banged the end of his cane on the ground and then quickly got up and left.

"Kuchiki!" the girl called. Byakuya was about to exit the room but paused in the doorway and turned around. The rest of the captains, Jushiro included turned to look at them. The girl began to walk towards the back of the room. She stopped twenty feet away from Byakuya and reached into the front pocket of her black kimono. "Here, you might want this back." She tossed a silver object at him that he caught. When he looked at the object, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. His hand quickly went to his hair. No one had even noticed until that moment that the girl had removed the silver kenseikan on the right side of his head at some point during the fight.

An eruption of laughter caused everyone's head to turn to the back of the room. Ichigo stood laughing hysterically and pointing at Byakuya.

"Oh, man!" exclaimed Ichigo between laughs, "Byakuya, I've never seen you look so confused!" Ichigo couldn't seem to stop laughing. Eventually he had to lean over and place his hands on his knees to steady himself. Byakuya was fuming and quickly turned on his heel and left the room.

"Kiyone!" Jushiro called to his third seat who had been waiting outside the meeting room for him. The girl quickly ran to his side.

"Yes captain?"

"Miss Tanaka will be staying with Squad Thirteen for the time being. Would you please see to it that she gets settled in?" Jushiro saw surprise flicker across his third seat's face for a moment. She quickly nodded her head. "Yes, captain, right away." Kiyone walked over and introduced herself to the girl. Jushiro watched as they both made their way out of the meeting hall and down the long outer hallway.

**Hoped you liked this chapter! I'll have the next one up as soon as I finnish it. Please review and let me know what you think :)**


	7. Chapter 6: Day One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Thanks for the awesoem reviews!**

**Chapter 6: Day One**

Once they had left the meeting hall, Kiyone led Miya across the Seireitei to the Division Thirteen grounds. Miya had waited outside the main office while Kiyone had run inside to retrieve a small silver key. After that, Miya had continued to follow her as she led her to the Division Thirteen barracks. Kiyone took her to a door on the third floor that she opened it with the key she had retrieved. Once the door was opened she motioned for Miya to enter. Miya took a few steps inside the door and glanced around the small apartment.

"This is where you'll be staying for now," Kiyone said in a bitter voice. Miya turned around and Kiyone tossed her the silver key.

"So, what am I supposed to do now?" she asked after a moment of silence. Kiyone let out a frustrated huff crossed her arms across her chest.

"You stay here for now. I'll be back early in the morning to get you." With that, the girl had turned and stormed down the hallway before disappearing around the corner.

Once Kiyone had left, Miya was alone. The apartment that she had been given was small and cold. In the main room there was a small yellow couch, a bookshelf, and a coffee table. On the back wall of the room was a pair of sliding glass doors that lead to a small balcony form which she could see most of the Seireitei. The main living room was connected to the kitchen. A small wooden table and two chairs were pushed up against one of the kitchen walls and above the table hung a faded painting of a cherry blossom tree. A thick layer of dust coated the shelves and furniture as well as the table, stove, and kitchen counter. A narrow hallway ran alongside the kitchen and led to the bedroom at the back of the apartment. The bedroom was small and consisted on only a small bed, a desk, and a short nightstand.

It had taken Miya less than a minute to finish exploring the apartment. When she had finished exploring, she went back into the living room and sat down in the middle of the floor. The silence that surrounded her was deafening. In Rukongai, it was never truly quiet. There was always someone talking loudly on the street outside her window or yelling in the distance. During the day you could hear the sound of the people's feet slapping against the stiff red clay streets as they went about their daily activities. Even at night, the city never seemed to sleep. But here, it was completely quiet. It was unsettling.

So there she was. Alone in a place she had never been before and far away from everyone she knew. She began to wonder what things would be like from now on. She had always hated shinigami and had grown up swearing that she would never become one. And now, she was going to have to live in the Seireitei and do their bidding for the next 150 years. For the first time in a long time, she didn't know what to expect and that frightened her.

At least, in the end, she was able to save her friends. Most of the night thieves had families back in the Rukongai —families that depended on them to provide for them. Their families couldn't have survived without them. And after all, it was her fault that things had unraveled and blown up the way they had.

Besides, 150 years wasn't too long was it? Maybe time in the Seireitei would just fly by and before she knew it, she would be returning home. Who was she kidding—150 years was an eternity. After being in the Seireitei for that long, would she even have a life to go back to?

She felt her throat tighten. She desperately tried to focus on the grain in the wood floor under her to prevent herself from crying. It didn't work. Soon her eyes were stinging as tear after tear fought their way out fell to the floor. Eventually she quit trying to hold them back. She laid down on the cold wooden floor and hugged her knees to her chest.

And she cried.

She cried until her eyes went dry. And for a long time afterwards, she just lay in a puddle on the floor.

She was startled a few hours later when she heard voices outside her front door followed by a loud knock. She got up and rubbed her hands over her face, desperately hoping that her eyes weren't still red from crying earlier. When she opened the heavy wooden door, she was greeted by two smiling shinigami that she hadn't seen before.

"Hello!" said a small raven haired shinigami with dark blue eyes, "I'm Rukia Kurosaki and this is Rangiku Matsumoto."

"Hey there!" said her tall blonde companion.

"Hi," said replied timidly, "I'm Miya."

"It's nice to meet you Miya. We wanted to welcome you to the Seireitei," said Matsumoto.

"Oh, um, thank you," replied Miya awkwardly. There was a moment of silence between them before Miya spoke again.

"Um, are you both in Squad Thirteen?" Miya asked.

"Oh, no," replied Matsumoto with a smile. "I'm the lieutenant of Squad Ten. When my captain came back this afternoon and told me that someone had kicked Byakuya's ass during the captain's meeting I just had to come over and meet you!" she said excitedly.

"I'm in the squad five," said Rukia. "My husband Ichigo is the captain and I'm the lieutenant. Anyways, Ichigo came back from the meeting today laughing like an idiot. When I was finally able to get him to calm down, he told me about what happened and how you'll be staying here with us for a while."

"We figured that you didn't have very much with you, so we brought you some things to help you get settled in." said Matsumoto.

"Oh," was all Miya could say as Rukia handed her the large brown paper bag that she had been holding. On the very top of one of the bags was a pair of hot pink and yellow Chappy the Rabbit bed sheets. Matsumoto then handed her a second bag.

"Thank you, thank you very much," replied Miya taken aback by the friendly gesture. There was another silence between them before Miya spoke again. "Um, would you like to come in?"

"Sure," replied Matsumoto. Miya held the front door open with her back since her hands were occupied and let the two girls in. She walked over to the small kitchen table and laid the bags on top of it. "Wow, it seems like forever since I was last in here," said Matsumoto as she walked into the living room.

"I know," said Rukia. Rukia made her way across the small living room and peeked through the dark green curtains that covered the sliding patio door. "Even now, I still believe this place has the best view in all of the Seireitei," she said as she looked outside. "I started out as an unseated officer in squad thirteen and this used to be my room," she said over her shoulder. "I switched squads six years ago, but I moved out of here long before that when I married my husband. As far as I know, no one's lived here since."

"That would explain the dust," replied Miya.

"We can help you clean up if you like," said Rukia excitedly.

"Oh, that's not necessary. I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"No, really, it'd be no trouble at all. We'd love to help you get comfortable and settled any way we can."

"Um, okay then," replied Miya surprised by how nice the two girls were. "Thank you."

"Rangiku!" exclaimed Rukia.

"I'm on it!" replied the blonde vice captain with a wink. Before she knew it, the girl had disappeared and reappeared with a mop, bucket, broom, and several feather dusters. Rukia and Matsumoto had spent the next several hours with Miya helping her clean her apartment. Once they finished, Rukia pulled out a blue teapot and a box of tea that she had packed in one of the brown paper sack. For the next hour, the girls had sat down in the living room and talked over tea. By the end of the evening, the awkwardness that Miya had initially felt between them had completely disappeared. Miya had truly enjoyed their company and they had both seemed very nice. For a while, Miya had even forgotten that they were shinigami.

* * *

The next morning, Miya was woken suddenly by the sound of knocking. She rubbed the sleep from his eyes before flipping over and glancing at the rectangular alarm clock sitting on the nightstand. The illuminated red numbers read 5:00 am. Kiyone hadn't been kidding when she had told her that she would be conning early in the morning to wake her up. Miya groaned loudly before slowly rolling out of bed.

She ran to the front door of the small apartment and undid the small gold chain and the top lock and opened the door. Standing there looking very angry was the third seat of the Thirteenth Division. The short blonde shinigami quickly shoved a plain black uniform at Miya before crossing her arms angrily across her chest.

"There," she said in an acidic voice, "Since you don't have a uniform of your own, you can borrow one of mine."

"Um, thanks," replied Miya as she eyed the plain black garment.

"Well, it looks like I'm stuck babysitting you. We need to be in the office by six. I'll meet you out front at five fifty and we'll walk there. Don't be late." Miya nodded and the girl quickly turned and headed down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

It was clear that the Kiyone didn't like her. That fact alone didn't really surprise her; shinigami in general usually didn't like her. She just couldn't seem to figure out what she had done to Kiyone in particular that had caused her to dislike her so much already.

Miya got in her small shower and began to shiver violently when the water came on freezing cold. After what seemed like an eternity, the water finally began to warm up. She quickly washed her hair with the shampoo that the girls had brought her and breathed in the sweet strawberry smell. She wrapped herself up in a large pink towel and walked into her room and to the black uniform that she had laid on her bed. The uniform pants were too short. Miya sighed and instead decided to put on a pair of black calf length pants that had been in one of the bags the girls had given her. The kimono top was also too small for her. Miya rummaged through one of the bags and found a red tank top that she put on underneath the black uniform top. She tied the uniform with a red obi that was also in the bag. She opted not to wear the socks and wooden sandals that Kiyone and brought and instead wore her black ballet flats.

She towel dried her waist length coal black hair, parted it on one side, and then brushed it until it was smooth. Miya quickly grabbed her zanpakuto off her desk and placed it in her red obi before she ran to the front of her apartment. She locked the door behind her and quickly flew down the steps. When she reached the front of the apartment complex, Kiyone was already waiting with her arms crossed tightly across her chest and her right foot tapping furiously on the ground.

"Well, you finally decided to show up. I was about to leave without you," she spat.

"Sorry. The water in the—" Kiyone lifted up a hand and cut her off.

"Save your excuses for someone who actually cares." The girl glared at her from head to toe. Feeling self conscious, Miya tugged the black uniform top down. Kiyone huffed and turned on her heel and began to walk off. Miya followed her a few steps behind her.

The early morning sky looked like a bowel of orange and strawberry sherbet as she sun made its slow assent into the sky. The Thirteenth Division grounds were buzzing this morning with lots of shinigami running around and darting into different buildings. The cherry blossom trees that lined the main road were already starting to become bare. Behind the Division Thirteen grounds and past the Seireitei walls, Miya could see the woods. The tall oak and maple trees were already freckled with yellow leaves. Soon they would all turn brown and slowly fall off as winter settled in.

When Miya walked into the Thirteenth Division Office, she was surprised by how quiet it was. Based on the chaos outside, she had been expecting it to be filled with randomly running shinigami. There was no one in the quiet front office. Suddenly there was a loud slamming sound and Miya and Kiyone spun around to see an out of breath shinigami with what seemed like spaghetti covering his head and shoulders standing in the doorway.

"Third Seat Kiyone!" exclaimed the small boy, "Come quick!"

"What happened?" asked Kiyone surprised.

"Ebisu and Makoto started fighting in the mess hall again and it escalated into a full on interdivision food fight! I barely made it out of there alive!" Kiyone groaned causing the boy to shrink back. She turned to face Miya.

"I've gotta go take care of this. Stay put and I'll be back soon. Don't touch anything," she ordered and with that, she took off back through the office door. The boy turned to follow her and the door slammed shut behind him. The office was quiet again. Miya sighed.

The front room to the Thirteenth Division Office contained two wooden desks that were covered in stacks of papers and a few bookshelves that were littered with books. In the back right corner of the room there was a large flower pot with what used to be some sort of plant in it. Completely brown and withered over now, there was no possible way to tell what kind of plant it had used to be.

There were several frames hanging on the wall near an adjacent hallway and Miya walked over to look at them. She was in the middle of examining the various Squad of the Year certificates that lined the wall when she heard the door creek. She looked over at the door and her breath caught in her throat as she saw the white haired captain enter.

**Please Review :)**


	8. Chapter 7: The Division

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 7: The Division**

When Jushiro entered the Division Thirteen front office, he instantly caught sight of the large stacks of papers that sat on the desks opposite the front door. Surveying the stack, he began to hope that the First Division had made a mistake about where they had delivered the forms. He really didn't want to have to fill all of those papers out. He made his way over to the front desk and looked down at the top paper on the front stack and sighed. Nope. Those forms were indeed his. He picked up the stacks and turned around to head down the hallway and to his office. His eyes widened for a moment and he nearly dropped the stack of papers he was holding from the surprise of realizing that he wasn't alone in the office. He was greeted by a pale face framed by coal black hair. His eyes were once again drawn to her black ones, the sheer intensity of them rendered him senseless for a moment.

"Oh," he said once he had recovered from his stupor. "You're here already." Although he knew that she would be staying with his squad, he hadn't expected her to come into the office so early in the morning. He tore his eyes from hers and glanced around the room. "Kiyone?" he asked when he found it to be empty.

"She had to go take care of a food fight that broke out in the mess hall."

"Right, right," replied Jushiro as he desperately tried to ignore the urge to tug on the sleeve of his captain's haori. There was a moment of silence between them before he spoke again. "I don't believe that I ever did get to introduce myself properly. I'm Jushiro Ukitake, I'm the Squad Thirteen Captain." He transferred the stack of papers into one hand and held out the other.

"Miya," she replied as she shook his hand. A shiver shot down his spine the moment their hands touched.

"Well Miss Miya, It's nice to officially meet you." He gave her a smile. She looked away. "I take it your hands is all better," he said after a moment. He saw her eyes widen slightly when she looked down and realized that she was still holding his hand. She quickly dropped his hand and crossed her hands behind her back.

"Yes, it is. Thanks again."

"Have you been settling in well?" he asked after another moment of silence.

"As well as can be expected sir," she replied, her voice flat and emotionless. He frowned at her answer.

"As can be expected?" he asked.

"I lost both my friends and my freedom all in one day. How would you feel?" Jushiro thought about it. A long silence filled the air.

"The Seireitei's not such a bad place," he finally replied. "I do hope that you will eventually enjoy living here." She turned to stare out the office window.

"I seriously doubt that." Although her voice this time had come out barley above a whisper and still was emotionless, Jushiro could tell that she was upset. She just didn't want to show it. From the way that the early morning light fell at an angle through the window next to her, Jushiro was able to see that her eyes were in fact brown, the darkest shade of brown he had ever seen. When she turned her head away from the light of the window to look at him, her eyes went back to their captivating black color. And, in her eyes, Jushiro could see the emotion that she had tried to keep from her voice and face. Sadness saturated her eyes. He wanted to say something that would cheer her up, that would reassure her but he just couldn't seem to find the right words to say to her to make her feel at ease.

"So, what happens to me now?" she finally asked.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. For the time being, you'll be staying and working with Squad Thirteen. The Head Captain will eventually decide where he wants to permanently place you." Miya opened her mouth again another question but the sound of the front door suddenly swinging open stopped her before any words came out. Shunsui marched into the office wearing his traditional straw hat and ridiculous pink kimono.

"Hey Jushiro do you have any—" the Shunsui stopped abruptly when he saw Miya standing next to him.

"Good morning," said Shunsui, smiling widely at Miya. "I'm Captain Shunsui Kyoraku."

"Nice to meet you Captain Kyoraku. I'm Miya." She replied timidly.

"It's nice to have you joining us here in the Seireitei. I'm sure Jushiro is more than glad to have such a lovely young lady working with his squad. He's not as mean as he might seem. If he gives you any trouble, just let me know." Jushiro felt his face warm slightly.

The door behind Shunsui creaked open and in walked Kiyone, a pissed off look on her face. As soon as she saw him standing in the office, however, her expression instantly changed and a huge smile crossed her face.

"Good morning Captain Ukitake," said the girl in a bright chipper voice. "I trust you slept well."

"Just fine Kiyone, thank you," he replied.

"Good morning Captain Kyoraku," said Kiyone as she turned to bow to Shunsui. Shunsui bowed back at her. "I'm ready for my orders Captain," said the girl in the same bright and bubbly voice.

"Thank you for taking care of Miss Miya yesterday Kiyone. First thing I would like for you to do today is to introduce her to the rest of the squad captains and lieutenants. After that, you can take her on a tour of the Seireitei. Once you finish, you can come back to the office and show Miss Miya how to do some of the paperwork." Kiyone glared at Miya briefly before looking back at him.

"Couldn't we find somewhere else to place Miya?" When he gave her a questioning look, the girl quickly amended her statement. "I mean, um, I don't really need any help here in the office. Isn't there some other place where she could be of better use?"

"For the time being, Miss Miya will be helping you out in here." Although it was apparent that she wasn't happy with his answer, the small girl nodded and turned to leave.

"Come on Miya, let's go. Captain Ukitake gave us orders." Miya turned and followed the small girl. With one hand on the door, Miya glanced at him and their eyes met for a fraction of a second before she stepped outside. The door swung closed behind her. Through the office window, Jushiro saw the two girls walk down the gravel pathway towards the Eleventh Division grounds.

"Shunsui, you're here early," said Jushiro when he finally turned his attention back to his friend.

"Ugg, I know," replied Shunsui as he leaned against the wall and pouted. "Yuki's got the flu and I was up most of the night taking care of her. When my mother took over this morning it was already time to go to work. You know how Nanao is. If I would have stayed home to take a nap instead of coming into work, she would have smacked me wither her fan and gone to the office herself. I can't even nap in the office anymore without her finding out. I swear, Nanao is paying off some of the office workers to spy on me and report back to her. That's actually why I came here—Jushiro do you have any of that coffee stuff from the world of the living?" Jushiro placed his hand on his chin and thought for a moment.

"Yeah, I think I do have a can of instant coffee that Renji brought back for me on his last trip to the world of the living."

"They did it again!" The two captains turned to face to door as in walked Toshiro carrying a large stack of papers. He stomped across the office and dropped them on one of the desks. "Stupid Squad One members! How many time do I have to tell them that we don't use forms 221 and 573 in the Tenth Division!" Shunsui laughed. "If I didn't know better, I would swear that they had a bunch of monkeys working in their office!"

"Are all of those mine?" asked Jushiro. A miserable look crossed his face as he eyed the new stack of papers.

"Yep," replied Toshiro with a scowl. "But this is only half of them. You can send someone over to the Division Ten office to retrieve the rest later." Jushiro signed.

"Well it looks like you'll be busy for a while," said Shunsui as he gave his friend a pat on the back.

"That reminds me, Shunsui, could you send some of your squad members over to the division Tenth Division office as well?"

"Whatever for?" asked Shunsui, his eyebrows raising.

"I found mountains of paperwork that Matsumoto hid in the storage cabinets where she usually hides her shake bottles. Squad One also screwed up with sorting those. Most of them are yours." Shunsui's shoulders fell and he pouted.

"I can't ever catch a break." Shunsui perked up a moment later. "Hey, speaking of Squad One, what was up with Old Man Yama yesterday?" asked Shunsui as he rubbed the stubble on his chin.

"What do you mean?" asked Jushiro confused.

"Oh come on, Jushiro, you can't honestly tell me you didn't think he was acting strange yesterday," said Toshiro crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Yeah," continued Shunsui, "He looked like he was about to have a heart attack when the girl first entered the meeting room."

"Then he drops his cane and then he agrees to let the girl fight Byakuya right there in the middle of the meeting room. A captain! Against a girl who has never had any formal shinigami training," said Toshiro. "How could he of allowed such a thing? I'm glad that she ended up having some skill. Things could have ended very badly for her."

"I wasn't worried about her fighting Byakuya," said Shunsui confidently. "I knew she would win. After all, she did kick Jushiro's ass."

"What?" asked Toshiro, a confused expression on his face.

"She's the one that did that to his eye." Toshiro turned to see the purple and yellow bruise on Jushiro's right eye. He and raised his eyebrows at him.

"You've fought against her?"

"Yeah, in the woods before she was caught and brought here," replied Jushiro.

"Wait a minute, I thought it was against your great principles to fight in front of women, much less fight one," said Toshiro.

"I didn't know she was a girl at the time," he replied in a rush. Toshiro eyed him incredulously.

"How could you not tell that she's a girl?"

"She was wearing a mask and a really baggy black kimono at the time. And plus, it was really dark. I couldn't tell," replied Jushiro in a slightly panicked voice. Toshiro gave him a skeptical look.

"If you say so. I sure as hell wouldn't have made the mistake," replied Toshiro. "I have to get back to my division. I'll see you two later." And with that, Toshiro turned and headed out the front door.

"She is beautiful," said Shunsui after a moment of silence, "but I think you've already noticed that."

"Of course I have." Jushiro looked away from his friend. He could feel his cheeks warm slightly. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Just stating the facts my friend. Just stating the facts. But I do have a feeling that things are going to get pretty interesting from here on out."

"Oh yeah, why would you say that?" asked Jushiro turning to face his friend again.

"Well, since that girl showed up, Old Man Yama has freaked out. Byakuya has been acting weirder than usual with his whole 'disrespect my family and die.' I mean, the guy's always been hardcore about protecting his family and all, but yesterday was the first time I've ever seen him prepared to cut someone so quickly for it. Byakuya also got his ass kicked yesterday for the first time since he fought Ichigo eighty years ago." A lazy smile crossed Shunsui's lips as he lifted the brim of his hat to look at Jushiro. "But, the most interesting thing that I've seen happen since the girl has been here is the fact that and I've seen you blush for the first time in decades." Shunsui's last statement only made Jushiro blush even deeper. Shunsui chuckled. "Yep, like I said, things are definitely going to get interesting."

"Come on," Jushiro said as he turned to head down the hallway that lead to his office. "I'll get you that coffee." Jushiro heard Shunsui chuckle again before he started following him.

Shunsui was right. Jushiro wasn't blind—he had noticed how beautiful Miya was from the very beginning. But what did that matter after all?

**Review Please :)**

**A/N: Hey guys! I just wanted to explain how old everyone in my story is. It seems like every 10 years that pass in the world of the living is equal to one physical ageing year that passes in the Soul Society. So, Toshiro is around 20 years old physically since my story takes place eighty years (8 physical years) after the main Bleach story line. All of the other characters in have also aged by eight physical years. As for Miya, she's around 23 years old physically.**

**Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon!**


	9. Chapter 8: Smile

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Thanks for all the reviews guys!**

**Chapter 8: Smile**

Miya had spent the rest of the week and the following week sitting behind one of the large wooden desks in the front room of the Division Thirteen office. Kiyone had taught her how to fill out several of the different division forms. She really didn't mind doing paperwork. What she did mind, however, was having to be in the same room as Kiyone for most of the day. By her second day in the office, Miya had already decided that Kiyone was probably bipolar. There was no other explanation for her behavior—she was mean and harsh to her until anyone else entered the office. Whenever anyone else was around, she turned into a perfect little angel. It was ridiculous.

By the end of the first week, Miya had found herself slipping into a routine. She would get up early, go to the office, go to lunch, head back to the office, and then instead of going back to the apartment which she had yet to consider her home after she left the office, she would go for a walk. She would only head back to the Thirteenth Division near sunset to get dinner in the mess hall.

Since their initial meeting, Rukia and Matsumoto had come by the office several times to take her out to lunch in the Seireitei. She found it easy to get along with both of them and really enjoyed their company. They were already well on their way to becoming great friends.

Although she was getting along well with Rukia and Matsumoto, getting along with the Squad Thirteen members was another story.

After she had completed her first day of work in the office, she had gone to the Division Thirteen common building. That was a big mistake. As soon as she entered the common room the loud chatter of the shinigami had instantly quieted down. She could practically feel their eyes boring into her back as she walked past them. Through the corner of her eyes she could see the dirty looks they gave her and she could hear the rude comments that they would gruffly whisper to one another. Bitch, whore—apparently they all had it in their minds that she had traded sexual favors in order to have been allowed to stay in the Seireitei without going to prison.

Miya let out a long sigh. She knew that it was useless to try to confront them and change their minds. After all, she couldn't really blame them for not accepting her with open arms. Although she was staying with the Thirteenth Division, she wasn't really one of them. She wasn't even a shinigami. Most of the people in the squad had worked their whole lives in order to get where they were. And then here she comes—a thief from the Regonki that somehow manages to bypass years of training and preparation and all of a sudden starts working in one of the Gotei 13 Court Guard Squads. They had a right to resent her.

After that, she avoided the Division Thirteen common building as much as possible during the day. But at night, that was another story.

A few days after she had started living in the Seireitei, Miya had had trouble sleeping and decided to head over to the common building hoping that not very many people would be there considering how it was two in the morning. She had made the short walk to the common building only to find that it was locked. Still nowhere near tired and not really wanting to go back to an empty apartment, Miya had walked around the building searching for a door that might have been left unlocked by accident.

Although she wasn't able to find an unlocked door, she did find that one of the kitchen windows on the first floor had a broken lock. She lifted the window up and hopped onto the kitchen floor. She closed the window behind her and knowing that she wouldn't get caught since no one in the Seireitei could sense her reitsau, she formed a small kido ball to illuminate her way as she explored the empty building.

The Division Thirteen common building was rather large. Once she made her way out of the kitchen, Miya found herself in the large mess hall. The mess hall was located on the west side of the building and was filled with row after row of tables where the whole squad would sit down for their meals. Through the mess hall and located on the eastern side of the building was the common room.

The common room was nearly twice the size of the mess hall and was square in shape. The roof was high and in the middle of the roof was a round glass atrium through which Miya could see the black night sky above. One side of the common room was covered with bookshelves from roof to floor and was filled with books. Miya had walked over to inspect them hoping to find something interesting to read only to discover that they were mostly old academy reference books. The south wall of the common room was made of large windows and there were couches and chairs arranged all around the room as well as various game tables. Miya recognized one of the tables as being a pool table. Kazuma had tried to teach her how to play pool on several occasions back in Rukongai, but she had never really been any good at it.

After searching the common room, Miya had searched each of the two remaining upper floors. The second floor was filled mostly with more lounge couches and game tables like the bottom floor. The third floor was used mostly for storage. There were several rooms on the third floor, and it was in one of those that Miya had found the thing that kept her going back to the common building each night while the rest of the Seireitei was sleeping.

In the far back corner on the third floor of the common building, was a storage room that was filled with old holiday decoration boxes, old faded uniforms, and miscellaneous training equipment. In the far back corner of the same storage room, hiding under a faded black sheet saturated in dust and facing a window that didn't look like it had been washed in decades, sat an old forgotten upright piano.

Miya couldn't believe her luck when she had found it. Pianos were definitely a rarity in the Soul Society and finding people who knew how to play them was even rarer. With all of the war and constant training for war, people seldom ever took the time to learn how to play an instrument that few people actually had. Besides this one, Miya only knew of one other piano in the Soul Society.

Soon after she and her mother had moved to Rukongai, her mother had taken a job in a restaurant in one of the better districts. Miya would travel to the restaurant with her mother every day and help fold napkins and wash dirty dishes in the kitchen while her mother would wait tables. The restaurant owner had a large piano in her apartment above the restaurant and in exchange for closing every night and coming in early on Sundays, the owner had allowed Miya and her mother to stay after the restaurant closed and use her piano. So, every night for years, after her mother had finished wiping down the dirty tables and after Miya had put away all of the clean dishes, she and her mother would head upstairs and sit down at the piano. Miya's mother was an amazing pianist and after a few years of practice, Miya had become just as good.

The piano that Miya found in the storage room was very old and severely out of tune to her disappointment. But, after an hour of fiddling with the strings under the hood, Miya had managed to get the piano to sound as it should.

Although she knew that no one would be able to sense her reitsau in the locked common building, Miya was worried that someone might hear her playing. She knew she would be in trouble if someone found her in there at such late an hour. Trouble was the last thing she needed more of in her life right now. So, for the first few nights that she had played the piano in the storage room, Miya had used the power of her zanpakuto to prevent anyone from sneaking up on her unexpectedly. Miya's zanpakuto had the ability to slow down time, and if she so desired, to stop time completely.

However, using her zanpakuto for extended periods of time always made her tired and she would find herself having a hard time staying awake in the office the next day. After the first few nights of interrupted playing, she had finally stopped using her zanpakuto to pause time and merely played in the early hours of the morning. To be cautious, she would never stay in the empty building for more than an hour and would always sneak back out through the kitchen window before the kitchen staff arrived to prepare breakfast.

After leaving the common building, Miya would head back to her apartment to get ready to head in the division office. She hadn't seen much of Captain Ukitake since her first day in the office. The Captain of the Thirteenth Division spent most of his time out of the office and whenever he did come into the office, he would spend his time in his office down the hallway.

In her first two weeks, Miya had only spoken to him a few times. Once had been in passing as she was headed to the office and he was headed out. He had asked her how she was and she had answered "fine" without so much as glancing at him. The second time had been in the office. He had once again asked how she was doing and she had once again and answered "fine" and continued doing her work.

After that first day in the office, she had decided that it was better not to look at him directly. When she had looked him in the eye, it had felt too personal. It was as if, by merely looking at her, he could see past her confident controlled exterior and straight into her. She had felt so exposed and vulnerable under his gaze. It made her nervous.

Even though she had settled into a routine, she still was trying to adjust to her new life. But, it was hard to get used to this new life while she was still trying to hold on to her old one. Things had changed so fast, it had given her whiplash. She hadn't even been able to say goodbye to anyone.

She felt like a goldfish who had been swimming happily in a jar. Then suddenly, the jar had been dropped on the floor. Her world had disappeared around her and she was left grasping for something that was no longer there.

* * *

Jushiro sighed. It was four in the morning and he still hadn't been able to fall asleep. Refusing to lie on his back and stare at the roof for any longer, Jushiro sat up in bed and swung his feet over the side and stood up. At this point it wasn't even worth trying to fall asleep anymore. It was Friday morning and he had to be in the office in a couple of hours anyways. He sighed again.

He walked slowly through the darkness and pulled back the heavy white curtains that covered one of his bedroom windows. His house sat on the side of the hill and overlooked most of the Seireitei. In the silver light of the moon, he could see the tops of the buildings and then the Seireitei wall behind them. Past the tall white Seireitei wall, in the distance he could make out the pale lights of Rukongai.

From where he stood it seemed so tiny and far away fading into the distance. He could only imagine how Miya must be feeling. So close and yet at the same time, so far away from everyone and everything she had known her whole life.

Miya. Nearly two weeks had passed since she had joined his squad and he still knew barley anything about her. He had tried talking to her on several occasions, but every time he tried to start a conversation, she had merely looked away and given him a flat one word answer that clearly meant "leave me alone." He hadn't known what to say after that. But, although he had answered that she was fine and always wore a neutral expression, he could still read her. She was upset. And she was lonely.

At that moment, he saw a light appear in a window on the third floor of the common building in the distance. That was odd. No one was supposed to be there at this hour. He scanned the building but found no reitsau. Jushiro quickly threw on his clothes and stuck in zanpakuto in his obi before he headed out of his home and towards the common building. Once he arrived at the back door, he once again scanned the building. Again, he found nothing.

He hid his reitsau completely before he slid the small silver building key that he had in his pocket into the door and quietly opened it. In the pale light of the moon that fell in though the mess hall windows showed nothing to be out of place. Slowly, he made his way through the empty mess hall and towards the common room. Nothing seemed out of place in the common room as well as far as he could tell. He made his way over to the large staircase on the far side of the room and slowly, he began to make his way up towards the third floor.

It was when he stepped off of the steps and onto the third floor that he heard it. There was noise coming from one of the back storage rooms. Poising his had above the handle of his zanpakuto and careful not to make any noise as he walked, Jushiro began to make his way slowly towards the source of the sound. When he reached the halfway point from the top of the stairs to the storage room, he realized that it wasn't just noise that he was hearing. It was music. An elegant melody bounced off the walls and drifted through the hallway towards him. His hand relaxed and fell from the handle of his zanpakuto. The song itself was the most beautiful he had ever heard. The music swirled around him and became louder and louder as he reached the open storage room door. Cautiously, he peeked his head in through the open door. His breath caught in his throat at the sight before him.

There, sitting on a low bench behind a dusty old piano, was Miya. In the silver light of the moon that fell in through a tall window, he could see her slender fingers dance gracefully across the black and white keys as they sent the melody that was both painfully beautiful and breathtakingly sad out into the darkness around her.

He couldn't move. He doubted that he could of if he had even wanted to. He stood there, unable to tare his eyes from her as her music filled the darkness. Her hands began to move faster and faster causing the song to sound more urgent and frantic. The notes became louder and louder and he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the music came to the peak of its crescendo in one loud crash. Her hands stilled for a second before they started moving again, this time sending out slow soft notes that sounded like a whisper of the melody before it. After a while, the whispered melody began to quiet down and her hands began to slow until they finally ceased moving causing the music to come to an end. The last note she had played echoed into the night. She gently placed her hands in her lap.

Jushiro still couldn't tear his eyes form her. It was not until he saw a glistening tear roll across her cheek and fall onto her lap that he was finally able to snap out of his stupor. He shifted his weight onto his back leg intending to turn and leave as quietly as he had arrived. The shift in weight however caused the floor boards underneath him to creak loudly. He heard her let out a sharp gasp and as she began to turn her head in his direction, that's when he had shunpoed like his life depended on it. Within a matter of seconds, he was standing on the front porch of his house panting like he had just ran a marathon.

What had caused him to freak out and take off all of a sudden? After all, he was the captain and she wasn't supposed to be in there in the first place. But, there had been something in her song and the way that she played. It had seemed so personal. It felt as if he had been reading her diary without her knowing. The song had been so heartbreakingly sad—it was as if all the emotions that she had been trying to hide were released in the melody that she had sent into the empty night.

Unable to get the her song out of his head, he sat out on his front poach until it was time for him to head to the office. He wanted to do something for her, anything, that could possibly cheer her up and make her feel better. But what? There must be something he could do right? He began to slowly make his way towards the division office thinking as he went. When he reached the office door, a smile crossed his lips as the very answer he had been hoping for finally came to him. He quickly turned around and shunpoed towards the First Division.

* * *

Jushiro tugged on the sleeve of his captain's haori as he made his way up the stairs of the Division Thirteen barracks. He had been meaning to go into the main office earlier that day to visit Miya, but every time he had began to do so, he had felt a coughing fit come on. The tightness in his chest and his light headedness seemed to disappear, however, as soon as he had decided to put off going to see her until later.

Before he had known it, he had waited so long that she had already left the office and gone home. Since what he had for her couldn't wait all weekend, he had no other choice but to go visit her at home.

He made his way down the narrow third floor hallway and stopped in front of the last door on the left. He stood in front of the door with his hand poised inches away from the dark brown wood. He debated briefly whether or not he should go through with his plan. He felt his chest tighten. _Oh no, don't let me start coughing up blood right now_, he thought frantically as he began to get light headed for the twentieth time that day. Before he could change his mind and leave, he gave the door a quick knock.

The sound of the knock bounced off the walls and echoed down the hallway. He held his breath and waited for a moment. _Well, too bad, she's not home_. He turned and began walking down the hallway. _Can't say I didn't try. Time to head home._

At that moment, he heard the sound of a dead bolt unfastening followed by the squeak of a door opening.

"Hello?" he heard a voice call out into the hallway and turned around just in time to see Miya's head peek out from behind her door frame.

"Oh, hello," said Jushiro as he turned around. His eyes met hers for a brief second before she looked down at the ground. He backtracked the seven steps that he had taken back to her door and stood in front of her. There was an awkward silence between them as he looked at her and she stared at the floor in front of her feet. He fought the urge to tug on his haori sleeve. She finally broke the silence.

"Um, is there something that you wanted Captain Ukitake?" she asked, her eyes still cast on the ground.

"Y-yes." He paused for a moment before continuing. "It's just that, well, I haven't been in the office much during the past two weeks and, well, I just wanted to commend you for all the hard work you've been doing."

"It's my duty to help out, sir," she replied in an emotionless voice.

"Yes, I know. You're doing an excellent job." He smiled at her.

"You didn't have to come all the way here to tell me that," she said, her eyes still cast down on the ground. "Is that all sir?" she asked after he hadn't continued.

"N-No, that's not all." She began to twirl her thumbs as she waited for him to continue. "I also realized that I hadn't properly thanked you yet." At hearing this, her head shot up and she met his eyes briefly before staring at a spot on the wall over his left shoulder. For the brief second she had looked at him, he had seen confusion in her eyes.

"For what?" she asked, her face neutral.

"For saving me from that hollow in the woods. I was wondering, why? Why did you save me? At the time I was your enemy but still, you saved me." She looked at him.

"You were hardly my enemy. You were merely my adversary. I didn't want you to get hurt." She looked away again. "Anyway, there is no need to thank me."

"Yes, yes there is. I know you've been having a hard time adjusting to your new life here with us and, well, I wanted to do something for you. Um, here—" he reached into the front of his robes and pulled out a small slip of paper and handed it to her. She took it in her hand and began to look over it. "It's a pass," he explained, "It'll get you through the walls tomorrow. You have a whole day to go home and get your things and see your friends. Just make sure you're back before sunset. I know it's not much, but, um….." he trailed off not knowing how to finish.

She looked at the slip of paper for a moment more before she looked up at him and met his brown eyes with her black ones. Ever so slowly, he saw the corners of her mouth pull up into a brilliant smile. His breath caught in his throat. For the first time in a long time, his mind had gone completely blank. He couldn't form a coherent thought in his head. She was by far the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"Thank you," she whispered. In the next moment, before he even knew what was happening, he felt her arms wrapped around his neck and her body was pressed against his. His senses were suddenly overwhelmed. She smelled like cherry blossoms and rain. For a moment, he was too stunned to move. "Thank you," he heard her whisper again against his chest. And then, before he knew it, she had let go and was once again standing in her doorway. He stood there, frozen until the connection between his brain and his mouth was reestablished.

"Um, I guess I'll see you later then," he said. She nodded.

"Okay." With that, he turned and slowly began to walk away. He heard the door click behind him as he walked back down the hallway. He made his way down the two flights of steps and out of the barracks.

She'd smiled at him. He hadn't expected that. What was more unexpected was when she had hugged him. That had made the three hours he had spent arguing with Yamamoto to let her go all worth it.

Even now, he could still smell cherry blossoms. A smile slowly crossed his lips.

He turned his head back and looked up at her window on the corner of the third floor. He saw her face peeking out from behind the dark green curtains before she quickly tugged them closed again.

Yes, it had totally been worth it.

**A/N: Yeah, another chapter done! I know I've been updating on random days, so from now on I'm going to post a new chapter ever Wednesday. Until next week!**

**Please Review and let me know what you think!**


	10. Chapter 9: Rukongai

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 9: Rukongai**

Miya made her way through the empty Seireitei streets towards the south Seireitei gate. It was early Saturday morning and few shinigami were out in the streets. A strong breeze tore by and Miya pulled on her black kimono top so that it would cover more of her chest. She was extremely excited about being able to go back home, even if it was just for the day. She hadn't imagined that she would have been able to so soon or at all for that matter.

She tightened her hand on the sheet of paper Captain Ukitake had given her the day before. Why had he done that? Why had he gone out of his way to be nice to her? He said that he knew that she was having a hard time adjusting to life in the Seireitei. How did he know that? Was he really able to read her that easily? Was he really that perceptive? No, that was impossible. No one had ever been able to read her and she liked it that way.

If it was one thing that she had learned from her mother, it was that wearing your heart on your sleeve made you vulnerable. Letting everyone know how you felt only made you a moving target, it made you easy to attack. People, no matter how pure their intentions were at first, would in the end, turn on you and exploit you. She had seen it happen to her mother so many times. Miya refused to ever put herself in a position where she could get hurt.

After Captain Ukitake had given her she sheet of paper, she had hugged him. She had hugged him without even thinking. It was only after he had turned to leave that she had realized what she had done and a deep blush had crossed her cheeks. How had he inspired such an emotion in her?

Miya sighed and continued to walk towards the south Seireitei gate.

When she finally arrived at the gate, Miya handed the piece of paper in her hands to one of the two guards guarding it. He read the paper over before handing it back to her. The first guard nodded at the other guard and he slowly began to open the large gate. She thanked him, tucked the piece of paper into her kimono pocket, and began making her way through the open gate.

Miya was several feet past the gate when she suddenly felt someone tug hard on her right arm. A low "umpth" escaped her throat as she was violently spun around.

"Where are you going?" Captain Kuchiki stood in front of her with a stone face. Although his face remained expressionless, Miya could see the tension in his jaw and the anger burning behind his steel grey eyes.

"Ow! Let go of me!" she exclaimed as he tugged her back through the open gate and towards the Seireitei. He didn't let go despite her efforts to pry his hand from her right wrist. "Let go! You're hurting me!" He stopped and spun around to face her. Miya saw the tension in his jaw relax a couple of notches and the fire behind his eyes dulled a bit. He didn't let go.

"Just where do you think you're going?" he demanded, his voice hard.

"I'm going home!" she exclaimed as she tried walking back through the open gate.

"This is your home now," he stated as he tightened his grip once more and tugged her back. "Unranked shinigami are not allowed to leave the Seireitei unless they have been granted explicit permission from their commanding officers."

"Well, lucky for me I'm not a shinigami." She tried tugging her arm loose again. It was no use. Captain Kuchiki's grip on her wrist was like an iron vise.

"You're a servant to the Soul Society. That means the rules apply to you as well." His jaw tensed again. "Do you even know what the punishment is for leaving the Seireitei without permission?" Miya didn't answer, she merely balled the hand he was tugging on into a hard fist. "Death. Death is the punishment. I would be one of the first sent out to find you so that you could be brought back and executed. I won't let you risk it."

"Well, good thing for me, I have permission!" she growled through her teeth. Shock flickered across his face before it became hard again.

"And who gave you permission?" he demanded.

"Captain Ukitake," she retorted.

"Ukitake? That's impossible. You aren't even officially a member of his squad. For you to leave, you would have to be granted permission from the head captain himself."

"She does have permission to leave Captain Kuchiki." Thrown off by the unexpected voice, Miya and Byakuya spun around to the direction that the voice had come from. The shinigami who had taken the sheet of paper from her stood next to the gate. "Captain Ukitake did petition and sign the pass to allow her to leave the Seireitei today, but it was the Head Captain himself who approves the petition. We received word from the First Division yesterday afternoon that she would be coming by this morning and to let her pass through the gates when she did." Byakuya glared at the guard who had spoken. The guard shrunk back as if his eyes had burned a hole into him. The second guard spoke up to back up the first.

"It's true Captain Kuchiki. She's been granted permission from the Head Captain to leave for the day." Byakuya glared down at the ground in front of him and after a brief internal battle, he finally released her arm. She instantly brought her abused wrist to her chest and began rubbing it. He met her dark brown eyes with his steel grey ones.

"Very well then." With that, Byakuya turned around and disappeared back into the Seireitei. Miya stared out in the direction that Byakuya left in for a while as she continued to rub her wrist.

"I'm sorry Miss Miya," said the first guard after a moment.

"It's okay," she replied. Miya turned and once again began walking out into Regonki.

The walk to the 80th District was a long one and as she walked Miya couldn't help but think about what had just happened. What was Captain Kuchiki's problem? Disrespect my family—die. Break the rules—die. The guy was like a walking rule book. And when he said that he wouldn't let her risk being sentenced to death, what did that mean? He had gone from the person who had wanted to kill her for disrespecting his family to the person trying to prevent her from being killed for breaking the Seireitei's rules. What was that about? Maybe he just wanted to see her serve out her full 150 year sentence in the Seireitei instead of getting the easy way out by being executed. Or, maybe he hadn't wanted her to be sentenced to death by the Gotei 13 because he wanted to kill her himself for embarrassing him in front of all of the squad captains. That was probably it. It was people like him that made her think that all shinigami were the same—arrogant, blood thirsty, and self centered.

As Miya continued to walk deeper and deeper into Regonki, the streets became dirtier and narrower until by the time she reached the 70th District, they decayed into full blown slums. Finally she reached the 80th District, the outermost district of Regonki. She passed by groups of beggars and homeless people who lay sprawled out on the street. If she hadn't grown up there, she might have been frightened. She made her way down the familiar filthy miserable streets and towards her home.

"Miss Miya!" exclaimed a voice. Miya turned around and saw her neighbor Ms. Adachi standing on her poach while balancing one of her children on her hip.

"Ms. Adachi!" exclaimed Miya as she made her way over to the small poach. She gave her friend a hug. "It's so nice to see you!"

"It's nice to see you to Miya!" Miya could see the woman's eyes tear up as she bounced her young son on her hip. "I thought I might never see you again. Kazuma told me what happened. Did they release you?"

"Regretfully, no," she replied as she hung her head. "I'm only here to say hello to everyone and get my things."

"Oh. I see." The woman reached up and pulled a piece of hair that her son had been tugging on out of his sweaty little hand. "Well, when will you be back again?"

"To be honest, I don't quite know. I don't think I'll be able to visit again anytime soon." Her friend frowned.

"We'll sure miss having you around. I know my little girls will feel bad that they missed seeing you." Miya sighed. She had lived near the Adachi's for a very long time. She would most definitely miss them. "Well, I won't keep you. It was good to see you Miya. And please, do come and stop by the next time you're in Regonki. Don't forget about us just because you're living in the Seireitei now."

"I could never forget about you guys. Everyone here is like my family." Mrs. Adachi smiled.

"Take care Miya."

"You too Mrs. Adachi." Miya gave her friend another hug before she turned and continued to make her way down the narrow street until she reached the end.

At the end of the street, Miya found herself standing front small run down house. She stood in front of it for a moment and took in the cracked door that hung on broken hinges in the doorway, the tattered patched curtains that hung in the small broken glass window, and the poach that was missing several floorboards. She took a deep breath and sighed.

_I'm home._

* * *

The front door opened with a loud creek. Miya stepped inside the rundown house to find herself standing in the small living room that also functioned as a kitchen and bedroom. Miya heard footsteps approaching from the back room and in a matter of seconds, a small head popped timidly into the doorway.

"Miya!" exclaimed a small boy as he emerged from behind the doorframe. He ran up to her and gave her a tight hug. At seven, Yori was the youngest member of Miya's makeshift family. He had been living with them ever since Miya had found him starving and half dead in an alleyway four years ago. In the time that he had been living there, he and Miya had grown very close.

"Yori!" Miya bent down and gave the small boy a hug.

"Yori, did we hear you say that Miya—" Miya looked up to see the twins Kane and Ryuu appear in the doorway that Yori had just emerged from. The twins had joined Miya's family over a century ago. She let go of Yori and gave them each a hug.

"We've missed you!" said Kane as he pushed his red hair out of his green eyes.

"Terribly," continued Ryuu. "Are you here to stay? Did they let you out?"

"No, unfortunately. I'm just here for the day." Yori's face fell.

"You're leaving again?" he asked in a small voice.

"I'm afraid so."

"What's wrong Miya? Don't you like us anymore?"

"Of course not, Yori. You know I love all of you. It's just something I have to do."

"Miya did it to save all of us." Miya spun around to see a tall blond boy with piercing blue eyes leaning against the opened front door. A large smile broke across her face.

"Hello Kazuma."

* * *

Miya shifted the weight of the bag she slung over her right shoulder to her left one. The sun hung low in the sky, preparing to set behind the Seireitei walls up ahead.

"You know, Kazuma, you really didn't have to walk me back to the Seireitei," said Miya as she turned to look at her friend. Kazuma ran a hand through his short blond hair making it stand on ends. He turned and looked at her an intense look in his blue eyes.

"I know I didn't _have to_. I wanted to." Miya quickly focused her attention back on the road in front of them. "Besides, who knows when I'll get to see you again." They continued to walk in silence. "You shouldn't have done it," said Kazuma abruptly in an frustrated voice. Miya turned to face him once again, thrown off by his sudden change in tone.

"Done what?" she asked, her eyebrows lifting in confusion.

"Volunteer to take all of our prison sentences so that the rest of us could leave."

"Oh," she replied. She saw this eyebrows furrow in anger. "I did what I had to."

"No you didn't! You didn't have to. We could have all served our sentences and then come back to Rukongai together."

"Come on, Kazuma. That wouldn't have made things better. It was better for one of us to stay in the Seireitei than all of us." Kazuma's face hardened and he turned away from her to stare down the street. "What do you think would have happened to the families that were left behind if we would have all been stuck there? What would have happened to Yori if me, you, and the twins would have been sealed away for twenty years? The kid can barely walk without falling, much less take care of himself. What about Mrs. Adachi?—what would she and her four children have done if her husband would have had to stay in the Seireitei as well?" Kazuma thought about what she had said for a moment and his face softened slightly. "Come on Kazuma, this was the best way to solve things."

"But, why did it have to be you that stayed behind? I would have done it."

"Sure you would have," said Miya under her breath.

"I would have," Miya turned to look at Kazuma again. She knew that he was being sincere. If there was one thing that she had learned about Kazuma in the many years that she had known him, it was that he would never say anything if he didn't truly mean it. "You shouldn't have taken it all upon yourself. God Miya, when will you ever learn to let people in? When will you ever let anyone help you? You can't fix the world all on your own."

"You make it sound as if living in the Seireitei is such a terrible, horrible thing," replied Miya, choosing to ignore his questions.

"Are you telling me you actually like living there?" asked Kazuma, his right eyebrow raising in a skeptical look.

"No, but, I mean—it's not too bad. Things could be worse. Some of the people there are actually, pretty nice." Captain Ukitake's face flashed across her mind.

"Woah—" said Kazuma as he made a halting motion with his right hand. "Please don't tell me you're actually starting to like shinigami now."

"No, of course not." Kazuma examined her face for a moment.

"Good." He replied. "I really don't like the fact that you're there alone with those evil power happy hypocrites."

"I can take care of myself Kazuma," she replied. Kazuma didn't argue with her statement. He knew how strong she was and he knew that she would never admit that she needed help.

"Well," he whispered aster a few moments of silence, "I guess you being in there won't be all bad. Since you're in there, you might as well do a little recon work. Discover the crack in the Gotei 13's foundation. Find out how to take those bastards down from the inside." Miya rolled her eyes.

"Kazuma, I am far too old to discuss overthrowing the Soul Society hierarchy with you."

"What happened to the girl I used to know who couldn't wait to find a way to overthrow the Seireitei and give the Soul Society back to the people?" asked Kazuma, his face disappointed.

"She grew up and realized that violence never solves anything." Kazuma sighed.

"We're here." Miya looked up and realized that they were indeed standing in front of the Seireitei gate. She took the sheet of paper out of her pocket and handed it to one of the guards who proceeded to open the gate. Miya took the bag that Kazuma had been carrying for her out of his hand and proceeded to give him a hug. He held on to her a moment longer than necessary. "Go on, get out of here." He said as he nodded towards the opening in the Seireitei wall. "I'll see you soon."

"Not soon enough," she replied as she turned to walk through the gate.

"Sooner than you think," she heard him mutter from behind her.

"What?" she asked, as she turned around to face him once more.

"You'll see." With that, Kazuma turned and headed back into Rukongai. He waved at her over his right shoulder with the back of his right hand.

* * *

Jushiro sat looking at the clock on the teahouse wall. It was six thirty in the evening and the sun would be setting soon.

"Calm down Jushiro," said Shunsui, his voiced muffled from under the straw hat that covered his face. He currently lay sprawled out on the teahouse floor with his arms crossed behind his head.

"What do you mean calm down?" he asked. Shunsui groaned and pushed himself up onto his elbows. The movement caused his hat to fall off his face and roll onto the floor.

"Seriously, you're about to pop the seam on that haori if you don't stop tugging on the sleeve." Jushiro looked at his left shoulder and sure enough, the seam in the white fabric was already starting to come loose. Had he really been tugging on it that hard? "Ever since we were kids, you would always tug on your shirt sleeve whenever you got nervous. So please, calm down." Jushiro's cheeks warmed slightly.

"Do you really think that it was a good idea to let her go into Rukongai for the day? Yamamoto sure didn't think so."

"She'll be fine. By the way, what did you have to do to get Old Man Yama to agree to let her leave the Seireitei for the day?"

"I volunteered to take over his night time academy training shifts for the next two months."

"Ugg." Shunsui slowly sat up and poured himself another glass of tea.

"Shunsui," asked Jushiro after a moment of silence.

"Yeah?" replied Shunsui.

"What if she decides to make a run for it and not come back?" asked Jushiro his voice grave.

"Don't worry Jushiro, you'll see her again." Jushiro felt himself blush again and lifted his tea cup up to his lips in an attempt to hide his face. Shunsui laughed.

At that moment, the teahouse door swung open. The door banged loudly as it hit the wall next to it, the sudden sound causing Jushiro to nearly choke on his tea. The next second, Byakuya Kuchiki stormed into the room and over to the table where Jushiro and Shunsui sat. Jushiro and Shunsui sat blinking at Byakuya, shocked by his sudden appearance. They waited for the Kuchiki to speak but Byakuya didn't, he merely stood at the end of their table breathing loudly through his nose and emanating a black cloud into the air around him.

"Uh, can we help you?" asked Jushiro in order to ease the tension in the air. Byakuya narrowed his eyes at him and Jushiro involuntarily flinched back.

"What kind of idiotic notion caused you to believe that sending Miss Tanaka into Rukongai for the day would be a good idea?" demanded Byakuya through clenched teeth. Of all things for Byakuya to have said, Jushiro sure hadn't been expecting that. It took him a moment to process the question before he could answer.

"I thought it would be good for her to get out of the Seireitei for a while. She left Rukongai so abruptly, she needed to go back and visit her friends and family."

"That's one of the most absurd ideas I have ever heard," replied Byakuya, his voice hard. "What if she decides to make a run for it while she's out? She'll be hunted down by the Gotei 13 and executed for escaping? Why—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Shunsui, lifting his hand up to stop Byakuya from speaking any further. "Little Byakuya, you need to settle down. Miss Miya is smart enough to know that if she were to take off, the Head Captain would send shinigami to track her down and bring her back. Furthermore, she knows that all her friends who were caught that night would also be tracked down, dragged back into the Seireitei, and thrown in prison for an indefinite amount of time. Even if she would risk her life, she sure wouldn't risk the lives of the others. Besides, she doesn't strike me as the type of person to go back on her word once it's been made." Byakuya glared at Shunsui before turning back to glare back at Jushiro.

"If Miss Tanaka does make a run for it while she's out and I have the unfortunate responsibility of having to drag her back here to be executed, I will personally hold you responsible Ukitake. I—"

At that moment, as if saying her name had conjured her out of thin air, Miya appeared in the open teahouse door. Spotting Jushiro across the room, Miya slowly made her way to his table the corner of the room. She glared at Byakuya before turning to face Jushiro.

"Good evening Captain Ukitake, Captain Kyoraku…Captain Kuchiki," she bowed at each captain as she said their name.

"Good evening Miss Miya. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" asked Shunsui with a smile.

"I just got back from Rukongai. Kiyone told me I could find you here Captain Ukitake. I just wanted to thank you again for letting me go back home for the day." Jushiro saw the corners of her mouth turn up into a small smile.

"Um, y-your very welcome," he stuttered as he tried to fight a blush from creeping into his face. Byakuya angrily turned on his heel and stormed back out the open teahouse door.

"What's wrong with Captain Kuchiki?" asked Miya as she back around to face Jushiro and Shunsui.

"I have no idea," replied Jushiro.

"Would you care to join us for tea Miss Miya?" asked Shunsui as he motioned to the teapot on the table in front of him.

"Sorry, I can't. I promised Matsumoto that I would go have tea with her and Rukia later today. I should really be going."

"Of course," replied Shunsui. Miya bowed her head at both captains.

"Thanks again Captain Ukitake," she said. She turned and began making her way to the door.

"D-don't mention it," replied Jushiro. A moment later, she was gone. Jushiro stared after her until he heard Shunsui clear his throat loudly next to him to remind him that he was still there. Jushiro turned to see his friend smiling lazily at him. "What?"

"Jushiro, did you just stutter?"

"What? I—no, of course not."

"I think you did," replied Shunsui. Jushiro took another sip of his tea, attempting to hid his blushing face with his teacup again.

Shunsui laughed. "Humm, interesting."

**A/N: Thanks guys for the reviews! Just to remind you—Kazuma was with Miya the night that she was in the woods. He was the guy dressed in black that tried to stab Jushiro after knocking him out of the wagon. There was a lot about him in this chapter because he's going to be important later on. I promise there will be a lot more of Jushiro and Miya in the next chapter. I'm really excited about the next few chapters. I'm been having so much fun writing them! Until next time!**

**Review Please :)**


	11. Chapter 10: Green Tea

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 10: Green Tea**

Jushiro drained the last bit of tea from his teacup as he looked out the window of his office. He was about to get up to go into the main office and get some more when he felt Shunsui's reitsau rapidly approaching the Thirteenth Division office. A few seconds later, Shunsui flung his office door open and ran in.

"Fewf," exhaled Shunsui as he pressed his back against Jushiro's office door. "Still alive."

"What happened?" asked Jushiro, his eyebrows raising.

"Nanao nearly killed me!" exclaimed Shunsui.

"What did you do this time?"

"Well, I went into the kitchen and she was standing on her tip toes looking into the cupboard. She had a huge bowl of ice cream with pickles and popcorn on top sitting on the counter. When she asked me if I knew where that chocolate syrup that forms a shell when you put it on ice cream is, I told her that I had finished it off the night before. Then suddenly, the vein in her forehead bulges and she hurls the ice cream bowl at my head. Then she started yelling 'You monster! You finished my chocolate syrup and didn't replace it! You know that's all I want to eat right now! Get out before I kill you!' Then she started hurling the rest of the cupboard contents at me. She hit me pretty hard in the head with a can of peas." Shunsui tilted his hat back and began rubbing a large red bump that was throbbing above his right eyebrow. "I took off after that."

"Wow," replied Jushiro. "She must really like chocolate syrup." Shunsui groaned.

"Yep. And it's all due to those crazy pregnancy hormones of hers. It could be worse though. When she was pregnant with Yuki all she ever wanted to eat was watermelon and caviar, which of course you can't find in the Soul Society in the winter. I had to bribe practically everyone who went to the world of the living to bring me back some the whole time she was pregnant." Jushiro twirled his empty tea cup around in his hand. "Do you mind if I hide out in here for a while? If she decides to hunt me down, well, it's not like she can kill me with any witnesses around." Jushiro laughed.

"Sure." Shunsui began picking off the ice cream coated pieces of popcorn that clung to his kimono and hair. "Can I get you anything? Would you like some tea?" The over excited voice Jushiro had asked his second question in caused Shunsui to look at his friend with confused expression.

"Um, sure," he replied as he made his way towards the trashcan in the corner of the room to throw the gooey popcorn away. Shunsui stepped on the black pedal at the bottom of the stainless steel trashcan causing the lid to flip open. "Woah!" exclaimed Shunsui as he peered down into the trashcan. "Jushiro, what the hell man? What is all this?"

"What?" asked Jushiro confused. Shunsui pointed towards the open trashcan.

"Dude, there's like, fifty used tea packet things in there. Are you obsessed with tea now?"

"What? No—I just like tea," replied Jushiro nervously.

"Well, apparently you like it to the point where I'm concerned you might overdose." Jushiro laughed nervously as he stood and began making his way towards the door. "Where are you going?" Jushiro turned to face Shunsui, one hand poised over the doorknob.

"You said you wanted tea. I'm going to go get you some."

"You used to keep the tea in the cupboard behind your desk. Since when did you start keeping the tea in the front office?"

"Well," said Jushiro, nervously scratching the back of his, "I, um needed the extra space in here to store things." Shunsui gave him a skeptical look. He clearly wasn't buying it. He rubbed the stubble on the bottom of his chin for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing in thought until they suddenly relaxed as a light bulb went off in his head.

"Ah ha!," he exclaimed. He pointed an accusing index finger at him. "You've started keeping the tea in the front office so that you can see Miss Miya every time you go to get more!"

"What? No, that's not it!" Jushiro waved his hands back and forth and began blushing violently.

"Your red face says otherwise." Jushiro went to counter his friend's comment, but then gave up and slouched his shoulders in defeat. "Ha! I was right! Jushiro, you sly devil. It looks like I have rubbed off on you." Jushiro sighed.

"You make it sound as if that's a bad thing."

"Of course not. You know, I did the same thing when Nanao became my lieutenant. Except not with tea—I started storing sake in the cupboard behind her desk." Jushiro perked up.

"Wait a minute—is that why you spent the first three months after she started working in the office constantly drunk?"

"Yep."

"You told me you were just overcome with happiness that you had found a new lieutenant and that you just always felt like celebrating."

"I was overcome with happiness! Every time I bent down to get more sake out of the cupboard, I would get a perfect view of her butt. I had to stop keeping my sake bottles in there after a while though. She caught me staring at her backside on day and quickly pulled a large book off her desk and smacked me on the head with it. She started carrying that book with her everywhere after that." Jushiro ran his fingers over the smooth surface of his coffee mug. "So, how are things going? Have you asked her out yet?"

"What—no."

"And why not?"

"Well, because I don't think that she would ever think of me that way, that's why."

"What makes you say that?"

"I just don't think she would."

"Jushiro, you're just being stupid. I mean, come on now, what's not to like?" Jushiro sighed and looked away. "Wait—have you even talked to her yet?"

"Of course I have," replied Jushiro defensively.

"Oh really," said Shunsui as he gave his friend a skeptical look. "And what exactly did you say to her?"

"Well, the seventh time I went in there to get tea I said hi. The twelfth time I went in there she sneezed and I said bless you."

"Seriously? Are 'hi' and 'bless you' the closest you've gotten to asking her out?"

"No," replied Jushiro defensively. Shunsui continued to look at him skeptically. "Yes," he finally admitted as his shoulder slouched in defeat.

"That's pathetic," said Shunsui as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"But, it's not like I'm not trying. The last time I went in there I was dead set on asking her out but, right before I was about to I started coughing." Shunsui sighed.

"Well, even though your lungs are crappy, at least by drinking so much tea we know that you're kidneys are in tip top shape. It's a good thing that you have a bathroom in here. If you didn't, she'd see you constantly running to the one up front. She'd probably end up thinking that you have some form of urinary incontinence and trust me—no girl would ever commit to a guy that has that kind of trouble down south."

* * *

Miya dropped the pen that she had been holding on top of the form in front of her and began to shake her hand. She had been sitting in the office for the past seven hours filling out various forms and her hand had started cramping. At least Kiyone was out of the office at the moment. Any time Miya would put her pen down whenever the girl was in the room, she would glare at her as if she wanted to burn a hole in her empty hand. Miya started at the sound of Captain Ukitake's door opening down the hall. She looked up in time to see the white haired captain walk into the front office carrying a teacup in one hand. He smiled at her. She quickly picked up her pen and continued to writing trying to ignore the fact that as soon as she had seen him, her heart had involuntarily started beating a little faster in her chest.

Captain Ukitake walked over to the small counter on the far side of the room. In the corner of her eye, Miya saw the captain pour some hot water into his coffee mug. He opened the cupboard above the small counter and began rummaging around in it.

"You really like tea don't you?" she asked. Captain Ukitake jumped slightly and spun around, a glass jar in his hand.

"Um, yeah, I do," he replied as he nervously began rubbing his hand on the back of his head.

"I can tell," she replied.

"Y-you can?"

"Yeah." He gave her a confused look. "You only drink more tea than anyone I've ever known."

"Oh," he replied and then gave a small nervous laugh. He opened the container he had taken down from the cupboard and placed two large spoonfuls into his hot water filled mug. He began stirring it around with a little silver spoon that was sitting out on the counter. He set his mug on the counter and turned to face her. He began tugging on the sleeve of his white haori. "Um, Miss Miya do you—" He didn't get to finish his sentence because at that point, he started coughing.

"Um, are you okay?" she asked as he continued to cough."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Momentary coughing fit." He reached back onto the counter for his tea mug. He brought the mug to his lips and took a big gulp. His eyes instantly widened and he slammed the mug onto the counter. Another stream of coughs erupted from his chest.

"Captain! Captain are you alright?" her voice was panicked as she quickly rose from her chair.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he choked as he bent over and placed his hands on his knees to steady himself.

"Do I need to go get some help?"

"No, no, I'll be fine," he tried to assure her. "It's just--that's not tea."

"What?" she asked confused.

"What I just drank, it was most definitely not tea." She quickly made her way across the room and grabbed the jar that sat on the counter.

"Sir, this is bay leaf powder. Didn't you check the jar label?" Captain Ukitake shook his head. "No, I just used what I had in my hand at the moment." Miya cringed. Bay leaves were the most bitter tasting thing in the world. She couldn't believe that he had actually drunk some. He continued to cough and Miya quickly crossed the room and grabbed the glass of water that had been sitting on her desk.

"Here, drink some water." Jushiro took the glass in his shaking hand. Suppressing a cough, he gulped down the water. Slowly, his coughing subsided and he was finally able to straighten up again. "Feel better?" she asked, a concerned expression on her face.

"Yeah. Thanks for the water." After a few moments, her brows finally relaxed to their normal position.

"Good. You had me worried there for a moment."

"I did?" asked Ukitake. Her face instantly became neutral.

"I'm pretty sure Kiyone would kill me if I let anything happen to you while she was out of the office."

"Oh," he replied. He lifted the glass of water to his lips again and took another drink. All of a sudden, his cheeks turned bright red and he coughed into the glass.

"What's wrong now?" she asked as she saw him shakily place the glass on the counter behind him.

"Nothing. I'm fine," he said and then gave her a smile. She reached up and opened one of the cupboard doors and pulled down a plastic container.

"Here," she said as she popped off the plastic top. "It'll help get that horrible bay leaf taste out of our mouth." Ukitake peered into the container and pulled out one of the chocolate covered cookies from inside and took a bite. "Where did you get them?"

Miya peered down at the oddly shaped cookies in the plastic container. They looked like little cloud people with arms and legs.

"I got them from Rukia. Her brother donated them to the Shinigami Woman's Association bake sale, but no one bought them so she brought them over."

"They taste pretty good. Although, I can see why no one bought them—they're such a hideous shape."

"You think so? I actually think they're kind of cute looking." Ukitake placed the rest of the cookie in his pocket and handed the empty glass back to her.

"Thank you for the water Miss Miya."

"Of course Captain." Ukitake left and went back to his office. Miya sighed. She grabbed another cookie out of the plastic container before putting it back in the cupboard and ate it as she made her way back to her desk.

* * *

Jushiro flipped off his office light and made his way down the hallway. It had been a week since he had last tried talking to Miya. The last time he had tried talking to her he'd been so nervous that he started coughing and then had mistaken a jar of bay leaf powder for instant tea and had ended up drinking the most bitter, disgusting thing he had ever tasted. It had burned on the way down. Later as he had been drinking from her glass of water, he had blushed like a maniac when he had realized that by drinking from her glass, they had actually indirectly kissed. He knew it was a stupid thought, but that didn't stop him from turning ten shades of red right in front of her. She probably thought he was a complete weirdo now. He sighed and continued to make his way down the hallway.

As soon as he entered the front office he started when he realized that he wasn't the last person left in the building. "Oh, Miss Miya, you're still here? I thought you'd left a while ago."

"Yeah, she replied as she looked up at him briefly before continuing to fill out the form on her desk. "Kiyone said that these needed to get done today. I was stuck waiting in line to turn in some forms at the First Division this afternoon so I had to stay late to finish them."

"Oh, you don't have to stay to do that. If you give them to me, I'll stay and finish them up and you can go."

"No, that's okay. This is actually the very last form." With one more smooth stroke of her pen, Miya placed the finishing mark on the paper and then placed it on top of a very large stack. "There, all done," she said in a satisfied voice. She placed her pen and ink well back into her desk and then got up and pushed her chair in. He waited for her to step outside before he closed and locked the office door. They turned and slowly began making their way from the division office.

"So," said Jushiro trying to sound as casual as possible, "I bet you're glad to be headed home now after such a long day." Miya kept her eyes on the path in front of her.

"Actually," she said in an emotionless voice, "I'm not going home just yet. I'm going to take a walk."

"Oh," replied Jushiro. "Would you like some company?" he asked ignoring the tightness in his chest. Miya looked over at him and he could see a ghost of a smile cross her lips.

"Sure," she responded before she turned around and faced the path again.

The sun had already began to set causing the sky to glow pink and orange as they made their way from the Division Thirteen grounds.

"The trees look lovely this time of year, don't you think?" asked Jushiro after walking a few moments in silence.

"Um, well, to be honest, they kind of look dead," replied Miya as she scanned the brown and orange colored trees that lined the path. Jushiro mentally smacked himself in the head for his pathetic attempt at making small talk.

"Well, I mean, their color is pretty nice."

"Brown?"

"Uh, yeah, brown's nice," he replied. She looked up at him. Yes, brown was definitely nice—it was the color of her eyes. She gave him a skeptical look and he replied with a nervous smile. There was a momentary silence between them before she spoke.

"Well, in a way, I guess it is nice. I mean, if there wasn't any death in the fall, there wouldn't be any beauty in the spring." Jushiro thought about what she had said as they continued to walk along Seireitei streets. It was now twilight and the street lamps flickered on.

"So, do you like taking walks?" he asked. She looked at him and smiled. His breath caught in his throat.

"Probably not as much as you like tea." He tried hard to suppress a blush. "It's a recent hobby of mine. I lived with four other people in Rukongai. Our house was crazy, and loud, and…there was always someone there. I don't like going back to an quiet apartment."

"I understand," replied Jushiro. "You know, you could always hang out in the common building. That's where most of the squad spends their time when they aren't training."

"I tried that. It didn't turn out too well."

"What happened?" asked Jushiro.

"Let's just say that I don't exactly fit in with the rest of the squad." Jushiro didn't press the matter any further. Her not getting along with the squad was probably the reason why she would sneak into the common building at night to play the piano. He made a mental note to ask Kiyone if she knew anything about Miya having trouble with the rest of the squad the next time he saw her.

"So, the others you lived with in Rukongai, I'm guessing they're your family?"

"As close to one as I've got," she replied.

They continued talking as they walked along the lamp lit Seireitei streets. Although she had been tense at first, Miya had slowly began relax until she finally began talking unhindered. Miya told him about the years she had lived in Rukongai. She had told him about the family that she had pieced together there. She told him how she first discovered the power of her zanpakuto and how she had put together the bad of night thieves. He was amazed to say the least by how she had survived growing up in Rukongai and how she had learned to control her powers without very much guidance.

Jushiro had told her how he had grown up in a province to the west of the Seireitei. He told her of his years at the academy and how he had become a captain. She had listened intently, asking questions every now and again. When he had told her about the time that had been ambushed by ninjas in the garden, she had laughed. The sound of her laughter had been mesmerizing as it emanated out into the evening air.

Jushiro looked up at the sky and saw that it was dotted with bright shiny stars hanging high above the Seireitei.

"Wow," said Miya as she glanced down at her watch. "It's really late. I didn't even realize that we'd been walking for so long." Jushiro pulled back his sleeve and looked at his watch.

"Yeah, you're right." He saw her brows furrow as she glanced around.

"Um, where are we exactly?" Jushiro had been so enthralled in their conversation that he hadn't really paid attention to where they were walking and apparently neither had she. He glanced around and caught sight of the Second Division Detention center off to the right.

"We're at the Second Division."

"Oh," she replied. "It's kind of late and that's pretty far from the Thirteenth Division."

"We can shunpo back if you would like. It'd only take a few moments to get there from here."

"Um, that would be fine and all except for one teeny tiny detail." Jushiro looked at her questioningly. "I can't shunpo."

"You can't shunpo?'

"Nope. I never learned."

"But, when you fought Byakuya, you move so quickly."

"I did that with my zanpakuto. To you, it looked like I was moving quickly because you weren't under its influence. It actually took me a couple minutes to walk across the room, disarm him, and take that thing out of his hair."

"Oh, I see," replied Jushiro. "Um, well I could shunpo us both back."

"You could do that?"

"Yeah. If you like." She thought about it for a moment.

"Okay then." A thought occurred to him and he nervously began rubbing the back of his head. "Is something wrong?"

"Um, well," he said nervously, "In order to shunpo both of us I'll need to pick you up."

"Oh. Alright," she replied. Slowly, he bent down and he instantly felt his heart beat faster as she wrapped her right arm around his neck. He swung her legs up and caught them in his right arm. She wrapped her other arm around his neck to steady herself. He desperately tried to suppress the blush he could feel creeping up his cheeks. "Are you ready?" he asked as she met his brown eyes with her black ones. As soon as she nodded, he shunpoed back to the Thirteenth Division Barracks and to her door.

Jushiro gently released Miya's legs and placed her on the ground. Although she was now standing, she didn't release her arms from around his neck. He looked down at her gentle face and her black eyes darker than the nigh. After a few moments, he saw her cheeks turn pink before she abruptly let go of him.

"Um, thanks for the lift," she said as she began to twirl a strand of her hair around her index finger.

"Anytime," he replied. Once she was inside her apartment, Jushiro began to make his way home.

Jushiro couldn't help but feel light the whole way home.

Something was different.

Something had changed from the moment he had exited the office that afternoon to the moment he had dropped her off at her apartment.

He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but that didn't really matter to him for at that moment he knew only one thing to be certain: if he didn't make an honest effort to get close to her, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

**A/N: So, Miya is finally starting to open up to Ukitake and Ukitake has finally decided to go for it. To be honest, I wasn't completely sure about this chapter. Hopefully it turned out okay and you liked it.**

**Oh, and in case you didn't recognize what the cookie that Miya gave Ukitake was, it's one of Byakuya's Seaweed Ambassador cookies.**

**Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate all the comments.**

**Review Please :)**


	12. Chapter 11: Dinner

**Disclaimer: I don not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 11: Dinner**

For the next several weeks, Miya and Jushiro continued to walk through the Seireitei together every evening. Although Miya had tried to keep her neutral façade around him at first, she had ended up failing miserably. She had never been one to open up to people, but with Jushiro, she found it hard to keep him out. He was different than anyone she had ever met before. There was something about the way he looked at her, the gentleness of his smile, and the sound of his voice that made her feel at ease. Being with him was as natural and as easy as breathing.

They would spend hours talking as they walked through the empty Seireitei streets. They talked about everything from the ridiculous to the serious. He had told her about the war eighty years ago and she had told him things that she had never told anyone, not even Kazuma. She was confused by how he never seemed to tire of hearing her talk, of how he actually wanted to know about her.

But the thing that confuse d he the most was the fact that every night, when Jushiro would walk her back to the Thirteenth Division, she found it harder and harder to say goodbye to him.

Miya stacked a pile of books that she had tracked down in the library and quickly made her way to the stairs. Ichigo had declined an invitation to eat with dinner at Rukia's brothers' house and Rukia had asked her to go with her so that she wouldn't have to go alone. After a while of begging, Miya had finally agreed to go with her. She hadn't met her brother before and wondered what he would be like.

Miya glanced down at her watch and seeing that if she didn't hurry, she would be late, she began to run down the steps. She turned the corner on the bottom floor so quickly that she ended up crashing right into someone and knocked them over. She heard a loud thud as the person she had ran into fell down backwards onto the ground. She landed right on top of him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized as she took in the sight of the scattered books around her. "I was coming down so quickly I didn't see you stand—" her voice was cut short when she looked up to see steel gray eyes staring at her. Byakuya Kuchiki's eyes remained widened for a moment before they narrowed at her. "Oh, it's you," she said. She quickly pushed herself up into a seated position.

It was only when she saw his eyes widen again that she looked down and realized that she was straddling his waist. She began blushing violently and quickly swung her left leg off him and stood up. Captain Kuchiki got up after her and began brushing the dirt off of his white haori.

Embarrassed beyond belief, Miya nervously stared at her feet and began twirling a strand of her black hair around her index finger. "Um, sorry," she muttered again. "I—"

"Would you watch where you're going? You're far too old to be running around like a child." The angry tone Captain Kuchiki had used caused Miya's head to snap up. He glared at her with cold grey eyes.

"Well, you're too young to act like an old man!" she exclaimed. Captain Kuchiki's mouth opened as if her were about to say something but nothing came out. Instead, Miya was surprised to see the corners of his lips turn up into a small smile. It threw her off for a moment—she had thought that his lips were permanently fixed in a straight line. He bent down and collected her books that had fallen to the floor and looked at the title of the book on the top of the stack before handing it over to her.

"Thank you," she replied as she took the stack of books from his hands.

"Do try to be more careful next time," he said. With that, Captain Kuchiki turned and Miya watched him as he disappeared behind the library door.

* * *

Miya reached up and pulled down hard on the bottom of the purple flower print kimono she was wearing.

"Rukia, this kimono you loaned me is way too short and way too tight!"

"Don't be silly Miya, it looks great on you."

"Are you kidding me? I can barley breathe in this get up! And look," she said as she stuck her right leg out, "since when do kimonos have slits this high? I haven't shown this much skin since birth!" Rukia laughed.

"Seriously Miya, you look fine." Miya frowned and tried to ignore the way the golden colored sandals that Matsumoto had loaned her bit into the back of her heels.

"Explain to me again why I couldn't just wear my black uniform?"

"It's a formal dinner Miya. My brother is very traditional. He'd blow a gasket and take it as a sign of disrespect if we didn't dress up."

"Your brother sounds pretty uptight." Rukia sighed.

"He's really not that bad once you get to know him. And come on, don't you enjoy getting dressed up every once in a while?" Rukia swished her arms against the fabric of her baby blue kimono.

"That's easy for you to say, you don't look like a geisha." Rukia rolled her eyes and the girls continued to walk towards Rukia's brothers' house. When Rukia pointed her brothers' house out off in the distance, Miya's jaw dropped. Even from far away, his house looked larger than the Division 13 Barracks, common building, and office all put together. Miya and Rukia walked down the white stone path that lead up to the main door. The house was very traditionally Japanese looking with its clean sharp lines and red clay tiled roof. The grass was bright green and not a dead leaf covered it. Miya's sandals clinked loudly on the stone path as they approached the largest door she had ever seen that was guarded by two massive white marble dragons.

Rukia lifted up the large dragon shaped bronze knocker and knocked on the door. A few moments later, the door swung open revealing a short man with black hair and a huge mustache wearing a black servants uniform.

"Good evening ladies," said the man. "The master is running a little late for dinner, but he would like me to show you the study where you can wait for him."

Rukia and Miya followed the servant down the long wide hallway. The house was even more impressive on the inside. The floor was made out of polished dark red cherry wood and hanging on the tall white walls were dozens of enormous Japanese paintings. Most of the paintings depicted nature scenes but there were a few that contained scenes of battle.

The servant stopped outside a large set of double doors and motioned for them to enter.

"You go ahead Miya. I've got to run to the bathroom," Said Rukia. Miya nodded and headed into the room while Rukia took off down the hall.

Miya's breath caught in her throat on stepping into the room. Had the servant really said that this room was the study? It was more like a full blown library. The roof of the room was three stories tall and every single inch of the walls was covered with books. A massive stair case on the right side of the room lead up to the higher levels and there were several ladders on wheels that could be rolled along the bookcases to help you reach the books that were higher up. The south side of the room was covered in large windows that reached from the floor to the roof. In front of the windows was a large rectangular object that was covered with a white sheet.

Miya walked over to the nearest wall of books and let her fingers run over the bindings as she read the titles. She reached the end of the row and turned to go and sit down but instead she ran smack into a wall that hadn't been there a moment before. She let out an "umpth" and then staggered back a few feet. As it turned out, it wasn't a wall that she had run into.

"You?" she asked surprised, "What are you doing here?" Byakuya Kuchiki stared at her

with his steal grey eyes.

"What am I doing here?—What are you doing here?"

"I asked you first," replied Miya as her brows furrowed in frustration.

"Well, in that case, I'm here because I live here."

"What?" asked Miya with a surprised look on her face. "Wait a minute—if you live here, than that would make you Rukia's—"

"Brother!" exclaimed Rukia as she walked towards them. She stopped a few feet away from where Captain Kuchiki stood and gave him a low bow. "I hope you haven't been waiting long."

"Not at all," he replied. With that, he turned and began to head towards the door. Miya and Rukia followed several feet behind him.

"Rukia, why didn't you tell me that Captain Kuchiki was your brother?" Miya whispered to Rukia.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew."

"No, you never told me. Besides, I thought your last name was Kurosaki."

"It is. Kuchiki's my maiden name."

Miya and Rukia followed Captain Kuchiki into a large long rectangular shaped room with long windows covering one wall and a long black table in the center. Captain Kuchiki sat down at the head of the table. Rukia sat down in a seat to his right with her back facing the window while Miya sat to his left directly across from Rukia.

Within a few moments, dinner was brought in. As they ate they talked. Well, to be more precise, Rukia talked. As soon as they received their plates she had began chatting away about everything and anything. Miya and Captain Kuchiki would speak every now and then but for the most part, it was Rukia who was doing all the talking. Rukia continued to talk until she was interrupted by a noise from outside.

"Rukiaaaaaaaaaaa!" Rukia san towards the window and Miya looked just in time to see a yellow and white blur closely followed by a black and white blur. "Rukia save me!"

"Ichigo, you idiot!" yelled Rukia. The vein in her forehead popped out and she balled her hand into a tight little fist. "What's the deal? Can't you see I'm having dinner with my brother?"

"I knooooooooow!" yelled Ichigo as he ran past the window again in another blur. "But if you don't help, Kenpachi's really going to kill me this time! He wants another fight even though I've beat him five times already. He told me this time he's going to make me bleed as much as Renji. The man's crazy!"

"Who you calling crazy yellow head? You run like a girl! Quit being a pansy and come and fight me!"

"Rukiaaaaaaaaaaa!" Rukia groaned and then turned to look at Byakuya.

"Brother?" she asked. Captain Kuchiki nodded solemnly and the next thing Miya knew, Rukia was gone. Miya watched as a blur of blue and black chased after Ichigo and Captain Zaraki over the hill and towards the Seireitei. Miya couldn't help but smile.

Whenever she looked back at her now lone companion, her smile instantly deflated. Captain Kuchiki lifted his chopsticks up to his frowning lips and continued eating. The atmosphere was as tense now that Rukia was gone. The silence began to become deafening. Miya could hear the loud ticking of the wall clock, the sound of his jaw muscles relaxing and contracting as he chewed, and the sound of the trees whispering outside the window. After a few minutes of silence, she felt as if it was going to drive her insane. As much as she dreaded talking to Captain Kuchiki, Miya treasured her sanity more.

"So," she said trying to sound as casual as possible, "you've got a really nice house." He didn't reply but merely glanced at her sideways and continued eating. Miya glared at him and then started picking at a lump of rice in her bowel. "You're yard's pretty nice, it's the largest one I've ever seen."

Silence.

Her composure snapped.

"Well aren't you going to say something?" she demanded.

"I find making small talk frivolous."

"That's usually what having dinner with someone is all about, making small talk."

"Well then, tell me what you would have me say so that that part of the dinner will be over." Miya's jaw tightened.

"Well if you enjoy silence so much, why did you invite me over if you knew it would only force you into speaking?"

"I didn't invite you over," he replied curtly. "Rukia asked me if she could bring a friend. She never said that friend was you."

"Look," she said as she placed the napkin that had been folded in her lap onto the table, "You obviously don't want me here so I'm just going to do us both a favor and leave." She stood up and began walking towards the door. Suddenly, she heard the sound of wood being dragged against the floor.

"Wait—" Miya turned around and saw Captain Kuchiki standing and looking at her with the most remorseful face she had ever seen. His brows furrowed and his head dropped. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "If I have appeared to be indifferent to your presence here, I apologize. Please come back and sit down." He motioned to her now abandoned chair. Miya turned to face the door but didn't walk any closer to it. She looked back at Captain Kuchiki. "I don't want you to leave," he said in a voice barely above a whisper and Miya couldn't tell for sure if he had meant for her to hear it or not. Whether it was the pleading look in his eyes or just the shock of seeing any emotion on his normally stoic face, Miya signed in defeat and slowly went back to her chair and sat down. Byakuya sat down as well.

"Thank you. Rukia would never forgive me if I managed to upset her friend," he said. Miya didn't respond but merely stared out the dining room window. "You must forgive me, I-I have difficulty talking with those whom I am not well acquainted."

"Yeah, well so do I," she replied as she turned to look at him. "But we'll never get any better unless we try." Byakuya contemplated what she had said before nodding solemnly.

"Dessert madam," said a servant as he approached her carrying small plate. Miya sat back in her chair and watched as he removed her dinner bowel and replaced it with a small white desert plate. Her face instantly lit up at seeing what was on the plate.

"Oh, wow!" said Miya as she picked the cloud person shaped chocolate cookie off her plate. "I love these. They're so cute." She took a large bite out of the cookie and turned just in time to see the most bewildered look she had ever seen on the stoic Byakuya Kuchiki's face.

**A/N: This chapter and the next were originally one chapter. It ended up being too long so I decided to separate them. I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you enjoy the next!**

**Oh yeah—words cannot describe the look Byakuya gives Miya when he realized that she loves the cookies that he, but no one else in the Seireitei likes. I've posted a link on my profile. If you watch the short Shinigami Cup episode, the face Byakuya makes at the end is the one that he gives Miya. It's priceless!**

**Thank you for all the reviews!**

**Review Please :)**


	13. Chapter 12: Sake

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 12: Sake**

Jushiro followed Shunsui through the large double doors and into his friends' favorite bar. As soon as he stepped into the bar, his nose was assaulted by the smell of smoke and alcohol. The bar was completely packed. Many shinigami stood near the bar and along the walls and a whole deal more swayed to and fro on the dance floor as music played from somewhere up above.

"Can I have your attention everyone," shouted Shunsui over the murmur of voices and the clanging of glasses against table tops. The music was turned down and the bar quieted down as everyone turned to face Shunsui who had climbed to stand on a chair.

"Captain Kyoraku, what's up?" asked Ikkaku. He held a large sake bottle in one hand.

"I just want everyone to know that my wife gave birth his afternoon and I now have a son! Drinks on me!" The shinigami in the bar began to cheer and applauded loudly and after a few moments, the music was turned back up. As soon as Shunsui stepped down off the chair he was assaulted by a mob of shinigami who patted him on the back in congratulations. As soon as the mob dispersed, Shunsui and Jushiro made their way to an empty table on the far side of the room where they sat down and ordered glasses of sake.

"Congratulations!" bellowed Kenpachi as he made his way to their table. "I was starting to think that all you could produce was girls." Shunsui laughed.

"I was beginning to think the same thing,"

"Well, I might as well go ahead and tell you that if that boy turns out to be anything like the way you used to be, you better keep him away from my little girl." Shunsui laughed again.

"I think Emi can take care of herself. She did beat Ikkaku to a bloody pulp last week."

"Baldy was asking for it. He made fun of the bows at the end of her pigtails. She's strong, but I'd rather not have to worry about crazy boys chasing after her. I have enough trouble worrying about Yachiru. That little punk Hanataro keeps trying to date her. There's no chance in hell I'm going to let that happen."

"Why not?" asked Jushiro as he lifted up his sake glass. "Hanataro's a great kid."

"P-lease," replied Kenpachi drawing out the last syllable. "The kid's a total marshmallow. He doesn't even like to fight. No one likes a softie."

"Apparently Yachiru does," he replied. Jushiro had been over to the Fourth Division enough times to see that the two were completely head over heels in love with each other.

"Yachiru's too young to know what she wants."

"Anyways, wouldn't keeping them apart only drive them closer together in the long run? With most people, as soon as something becomes off limits, it only makes that something even more desirable."

"Humm," said Kenpachi as he began rubbing his chin, "I didn't think about it like that. Looks like I'm just going to have to kill him after all."

"You're not killing anyone." Zaraki spun around to see Soi Fon approaching.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the demon lady," said Zaraki as he lifted an eyebrow.

"Yachiru loves Hanataro and I won't have you upsetting my stepdaughter by killing the little twerp. Now, go get me a drink before I kick your ass again."

"You know darling, most wives make their husbands sleep on the couch whenever they get mad. They don't send them to the Fourth."

"I know," replied Soi Fon. A flirtatious smile crossed her lips as she walked up to her husband and pulled on the front of his captain's haori. "But would you love me if I was any different than the way I am?"

"Nope," he laughed. "Come on my demon woman, I'll get you that drink." Zaraki bent his left arm and Soi Fon hooked her arm through his and they both made their way back to the bar.

"What an odd couple," commented Jushiro. "I guess they really do love each other."

"Speaking of love, how are things going with Miss Tanaka?" asked Shunsui before he took a drink from his sake cup.

"Better," replied Jushiro. "We've been walking together every night for the past couple of weeks. We usually spend the whole time talking. She really is an amazing girl. I haven't had a chance to ask her out though."

"And why not? I know you want to."

"The opportunity just didn't present itself." Shunsui narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"How could the opportunity not have presented itself? You're with her for several hours every evening and based on what you've told me, it sounds like things are going pretty well."

"I just don't want to scare her away by putting her in an awkward position if she didn't like me that way."

"Jushiro, Jushiro, Jushiro—you wouldn't have been putting her in an awkward position. Girls really like being asked out. Even if they don't really like the guy doing the asking, they still find it flattering. Besides, if you don't ask her soon, someone else will and you'll lose your chance."

"I know," replied Jushiro, "That's why the very next time I see her, I'll march straight up to her and make my intentions known."

"Now that's the spirit!" replied Shunsui. "That's the Jushiro I know. But don't say it like that when you ask her."

"Like what?"

"Don't be all 'I have intentions for you.' That makes you sound like a creepy guy from one of Nanao's Victorian novels."

"What?—No it doesn't! She'll understand that that's just the way I talk."

"No, she'll think you're just an old creeper. You know what you should say? You should say—"

"Whoa—hold it right there. I don't want to hear it. The last time you told me what I should say to a girl was while we were still in the academy. I ended up going into my room one night to find three very naked girls lying in my bed who jumped me and then tied me to the bed posts."

"You say that as if it was a bad thing."

"It was horrible! They stripped me and then started tickling me. I laughed so hard that I woke the RA next door up and when he came over and opened the door, he found me naked and tied up. The jerk kicked the girls out and then just left me there with the door open for everyone to see when they went to class in the morning. The cleaning lady eventually had to untie me. I was teased for months after that."

"I remember that. You're lucky your hair changed color shortly after that. If not, you might have been stuck with that horrible nickname forever! What was it that they used to call you?"

"I don't remember."

"Sure you do."

"No I don't. I've tried very hard to block those days from my memory." Shunsui laughed.

"Okay, well say it that way or don't say it that way. As long as you same something than that'll be a step in the right direction."

"I most definitely will—the very next time I see her."

"Good," said Shunsui as he placed his empty sake glass on the table. "Now's here's your chance, she's standing right over there."

Jushiro felt his heart thud loudly before he turned to look in the direction Shunsui was pointing in. There standing near the bar next to Rukia, Matsumoto, and Toshiro stood Miya. Her back was turned to him and he took in the sight of her long black hair cascading down the center of her back.

"Okay Jushiro, moment of truth. You march right up to her and tell her how you feel. It's just like that time you fought those giant boob shaped hollows. Remain calm and focused. Don't be distracted by her…assets. And if all else fails, you can always imagine her standing there in her underwear to ease your nerves."

"What—no! If anything thinking about her in her underwear will only make me even more nervous and I'll end up stuttering and blushing like an idiot."

"Okay—absolutely no stuttering. And don't blush—that's lame."

"Right," he said with a determined nod. "Well, here goes." He got up and began to make his way towards where Miya and the others stood. As he approached, he could hear the voices of those in the group.

"I'm really sorry I had to leave you alone with my brother Miya," said Rukia. "My idiot husband just can't seem to stay out of trouble."

"Really Rukia, it's okay. I survived," replied Miya. Jushiro mentally cringed. When had Miya been alone with Byakuya? He decided that it was probably nothing important based on the tone Miya had responded in.

"Yeah, I mean, how bad could it have been—she was with Byakuya 'Sex-On-Fire' Kuchiki after all."

"Yuck! Matsumoto, please don't talk that way about my brother," whined Rukia.

"What?" asked Matsumoto innocently. "Everyone's thinking it, I'm just saying it."

"Humph," said Toshiro. "I'm not nearly drunk enough to sit back and listen to you girls go on about Byakuya again. I'm getting another drink."

"Yeah, sake!" exclaimed Matsumoto as she followed the white haired captain towards the far end of the bar. At that moment Rukia caught sight of Jushiro approaching.

"Captain Ukitake!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "Hello!" Miya turned around and smiled timidly at him before reaching up and twirling a piece of her hair.

"Hello Rukia….Miss Miya," he nodded as he said each of their names.

"Rukia!" He turned around to see a very drunk Ichigo approaching. His signature scowl was missing, replaced by a large lazy smile induced by his inebriated state. Hisagi and Renji followed close behind him.

"Ichigo! What the hell?!?" exclaimed Rukia as Ichigo began to sway from side to side. "You reek of alcohol and can't even stand straight!"

"That's because I'm drunk Rukia!"

"What?!?" Rukia turned to face Renji and Hisagi. "You guys know that Ichigo can't hold his liquor! How man bottles of sake did you give him?"

"Hey, don't blame us for the current state he's in," replied Hisagi.

"Besides, he only had half a beer," stated Renji.

"Rukia!" exclaimed Ichigo again as he walked up to his wife and gave her a hug. "Rukia, let's have a baby!"

"What?!?" exclaimed Rukia, her eyes widening in shock.

"A baby. Let's have one."

"No!"

"Come on, please?" slurred Ichigo.

"No! No baby! What's with the wanting to procreate all of a sudden?" asked Rukia angrily.

"Well, Hisagi and Renji say that I'm not a real man because I haven't gotten you knocked up yet."

"What? Wait a minute—neither of them have managed to get anyone pregnant, so how are they real men?" Ichigo rolled his red bloodshot eyes.

"They've got tattoos," replied Ichigo as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah," agreed Hisagi.

"We've got tattoos," said Renji as he tapped his forehead.

"So whataya say Rukia? Let's have a baby."

"No, no, no! Not in a million years!" She shouted and then angrily crossed her arms across her chest.

"Well boys, she didn't go for it. Time for Plan B." Hisagi and Renji began cheering.

"What's Plan B?" asked Rukia confused.

"Well, since you don't want to have a baby, I'm getting a tattoo!"

"No! You don't have to get a tattoo to prove anything to these idiots!"

"No, Rukia, I've made up my mind. Lets go boys—to the tattoo parlor!" Hisagi and Renji cheered again and turned to follow Ichigo as he headed towards the bar door.

"Wait Ichigo! Stop!" yelled Rukia as Ichigo reached the door. Ichigo didn't stop and Rukia, Miya, and Jushiro watched as he nearly fell down as he exited the bar. "Sorry guys, I've gotta go," said Rukia, "I better go stop my idiot husband before he gets something embarrassing tattooed on his face." Miya laughed.

"Okay," she said. "I'll see you later."

"Bye Captain," said Rukia as she gave them both a wave and headed towards the door. They both waved back before seeing her disappear through the bar door. Realizing that they had been left alone, Jushiro turned back to face Miya.

"Are you not drinking anything Miss Miya?" he asked.

"No, not tonight." _Crap_, he thought. _There goes my chance of buying her a drink_. Jushiro mentally smacked himself in the head. "I'm kind of like Ichigo when it comes to drinking—just a little bit and I get really really drunk."

"I'm guessing you don't come here often then."

"I've been here a few times," she replied. "I don't really care for drinking, but I do like to dance," she said and then pointed at the dance floor. Jushiro looked over at the packed dance floor. In the middle of the floor he saw Matsumoto dancing around Toshiro as if he were a stripper pole. Jushiro's eyes widened in shock when he caught sight of Soi Fon, her leg hitched around Zaraki's waist as they did something that definitely did not look like just dancing.

"Do you like to dance Captain?" she asked innocently.

"D-dance? L-like t-tha—" _Cra_p! he thought. _I'm stuttering! Definitely not cool!_ His cheeks began to warm up quickly. _No! Not now! Blushing's lame!_

"Captain Ukitake? Captain Ukitake?" Miya placed a warm hand against his cheek causing him to snap out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" he muttered as he turned to stare down at her concerned face.

"A-are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah," he said in a small voice, "What made you think something was wrong?"

"Well," she said, her eyebrows furrowing, "You started muttering nonsense, stared off into space, and then turned beet red. I was worried you might have choked on your tongue or something."

"Nope, I'm fine," he said. He felt his cheeks slowly return to their normal color. "Miss Miya," he said after a few moments, "There's something I've been meaning to ask you. Would you possibly want to go and get some din—"

"Miya!" Jushiro was cut off before he was able to finish his sentence. He instantly missed the reassuring feel of Mayas warm hand lying against his face when she dropped it to turn around.

"K-Kazuma?" she uttered in a voice that held an equal mixture of disbelief and surprise.

"Right here," said a boy that he instantly recognized as the one who he had fought in the woods the night he had met Miya. He walked up to her with a huge smile on his face and gave her a huge hug. "I told you that you'd be seeing me soon." When he pulled away he left one of his hands on the small of her back. Jushiro immediately felt like ripping his arm off. He didn't know who exactly this guy was, but he already didn't like him.

"How…? Why…? What are you doing here?" Miya choked out. Kazuma smiled.

"It's nice to see you too," he replied.

"I don't understand," said Miya still stunned form the shock of seeing him. "What are you doing in the Seireitei and—" her eyes widened as she pointed to his obi "—when did you get a zanpakuto?"

"So many questions," he replied. "I finally managed to materialize my zanpakuto a few days after we were all released from prison. Although I'm not totally sure what all it can do just yet, I was able to tryout and wrangle myself a spot in the academy."

"Oh well congratulation," said Jushiro. Miya and Kazuma both turned to look at him.

Kazuma narrowed his eyes at him.

"I'm sorry, but who the hell are you?"

"Kazuma, this is Captain Ukitake. Captain Ukitake, this is Kazuma."

"Oh so you're Captain Ukitake," said Kazuma in a disapproving voice as he scrutinized him with his eyes. "Miya's told me about you."

"She has?" asked Jushiro looking questioningly at Miya. He saw her cheeks turn pink.

"Yes, I told him how I was staying with Squad Thirteen and how you were the captain."

"Oh, of course," replied Jushiro. There was an awkward silence between the three of them as Miya and Jushiro stared at each other for a few moments.

"I'm sorry, but did I interrupt something here?" asked Kazuma in a tone that clearly implied that he actually wasn't the least bit sorry.

"Captain Ukitake and I were just talking," replied Miya. "Actually, captain you were about to ask me something."

"Right," he said as he remembered what he had been saying before Kazuma had appeared out of nowhere. "Miss Miya would you like to go and get din—"

"Come on Miya, lets dance," said Kazuma as he jerked on Miya's arm and dragged her towards the dance floor. Miya turned around to see the surprised expression on Jushiro's face as she was dragged away. Ahead of her, Jushiro saw Kazuma smirking at him. He had clearly known what he was about to ask and had intentionally prevented him from doing so. Based on his actions, Jushiro had a pretty good feeling that his dislike for Kazuma was mutual. Kazuma quit smirking as Miya turned back around to face him and they soon disappeared from sight into the crowd of people that occupied the dance floor.

Jushiro's shoulders slouched and he slowly made his way back to his table.

"So," said Shunsui as he plopped down in the chair across from him. "How'd it go?"

Jushiro groaned.

"That bad, huh?" Jushiro didn't answer, he merely gave his friend a miserable look.

"Hey waiter!" said Shunsui as a short red headed shinigami approached their table. "Hey, we're gonna need another glass of sake each."

Jushiro groaned again.

"Correction, make that two."

**A/N: Hey guys! Thank you all so much for the reviews on my last chapter. I'm glad you liked it! I hope you liked this chapter too. I had a lot of fun writing it. Please let me know what you think!**

**I've started a new job and my free writing time is really going to be limited from now on. I don't know if the updates will come as fast but I'll do my best. Oh yeah: more reviews = motivation to write = faster updates! Until next time!**

**Review Please**


	14. Chapter 13: Melody

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 13: Melody**

Jushiro looked down at the blank piece of paper in front of him. He had been staring at the same piece of paper for the past hour and sill hadn't managed to write anything down yet. His brows suddenly furrowed in determination and he grabbed the pen off his desk and began scribbling with purpose across the blank page. The Bi-Monthly Department Report we due tomorrow morning and since he had put off doing it until now, he was in trouble.

He leaned back in his chair and re-read the few lines that he had just written down. He frowned. He scribbled out one of the sections and re-wrote it only to scribble it out again after rewriting it. Angry at how it was going, he finally gave up trying to amend the botched document and instead he crinkled the sheet and tossed it towards the trash can in the corner of the room. The wad of paper bounced off of the rim of the trashcan and joined the many other wadded up failures that littered the floor. Jushiro sighed.

It was no use.

He couldn't concentrate.

Jushiro had dogged into his office early that morning without even so much as uttering a hello or good morning to Miya and had remained in there all day long. Based on the familiarity and possessiveness Kazuma had displayed towards Miya the night before, Jushiro had concluded that he and Miya were more than just friends. Having never been the type of man to entertain other men's girlfriends, Jushiro had immediately backed off, determined to stay out of their way.

Originally, he had determined that the only way that he would be able to stop thinking about her would be if he avoided her completely.

That plan, however, had backfired.

By deciding not to think about her, he had only ended up thinking about her that much more. In fact—she was all he could think about.

He had given up trying to avoid her several times already that day and gotten as far as the door before he had been able to find the will to turn back around and go and sit back down at his desk. Each time he had forced himself to go and sit back down after getting up to go and see her had been more difficult than the last and he knew that soon his will power would crumble and he wouldn't be able to stop himself.

It was odd really, how much he had become attached to her and how much he had come to miss her although she was just in the other room. He missed her deep black eyes, the way her lips would twitch whenever she tried to suppress a smile, and the sound of her voice which had the strange power to both calm him and make him nervous at the same time.

_No_, he thought, _I'd be impossible for me to stay away from her now even if I wanted to._

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," said Jushiro, his voice gruff from not having used it all day. The door swung open revealing Miya. She walked in and closed the door behind her before walking up to his desk. "Miss Miya," said Jushiro trying to keep the _"I'm so glad to see you"_ and the _"I've missed you all morning"_ tone out of his voice. "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to bring you this," she said as she placed a steaming cup at the end of his desk. "It's jasmine tea. I know you like green tea the best, but we're all out so I brought you this from home."

"Oh, thank you. That was very thoughtful of you." Jushiro reached over and grabbed the hot cup of tea by the handle and placed it in front of him. He peered down into the pale pink liquid.

"Captain?" asked Miya in an unsure tone.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?" The tone of her voice caused him to look up from the cup of tea. Although her face didn't show it, he could clearly see the concern that he had heard in her voice in her eyes.

"I'm fine," he replied. Miya gave him a speculative look. "Really."

"It's just that, well—you've seemed really quiet today and haven't even left your office once." _Crap_, he thought. She had noticed that he was acting different.

"No, everything's fine," he lied. "I've just been…" he wracked his mind for a legitimate excuse for his odd behavior—he wasn't about to tell her the real one. "I've just been really busy working on the Bi-Monthly Division report." When Miya looked down and saw nothing on his desk besides a blank piece of paper and a pen, she quirked a skeptical eyebrow at him.

"I haven't been having the best of luck writing it," he said and pointed towards the corner of the room. Miya turned and surveyed the large mountain of wadded paper lying next to the trashcan.

"Oh, I see," she replied as she turned back around to face him. "In that case, I'll leave you to your work." She gave him a small nod and then turned to leave the room. Jushiro was about to call out to her when she suddenly pun back around. "Oh, before I forget—I wanted to apologize for Kazuma. He was unnecessarily rude yesterday and I just wanted to say sorry."

"He wasn't rude," Jushiro lied.

"Yes he was," contradicted Miya. "My brother's usually a really nice guy, but he can get really temperamental sometimes."

"It's no big deal. Really—don't worry about it." Miya slowly turned and left the room.

It was only after the door had clicked closed behind her that he had processed what she had said.

_Wait a minute_, he thought, _Did she just say that Kazuma is her brother?!?_

Jushiro groaned and hit the end of his palm against his forehead.

_I am such an idiot._

* * *

For some reason, not seeing Jushiro all day long had made Miya anxious. She really couldn't explain why.

Miya had gone to visit Jushiro in his office in an attempt to get down to the bottom of his sudden change in behavior. And, although he had told her that he had just been really busy, she hadn't bought his story. No, something was bothering him that much was clear. But, since he didn't want to speak about it, there really wasn't very much she could do to help.

Miya went back into the front office and sat down behind her desk.

"Don't get too comfortable," said Kiyone as she dropped a large stack of papers on the top of her desk. "I need you to take these to the Fifth Division."

"All of these?" asked Miya as she surveyed the considerably large stack.

"No, just part of them," replied Kiyone sarcastically. She rolled her eyes. "Yes all of them. And hurry up—I have an even larger stack that I need you to take to the Twelfth Division when you get back."

Miya watched Kiyone disappear into the back room. She groaned before placing her forehead on top of her desk. She heard the front door open and close followed by the sound of steps approaching her desk.

"Can I help you?" she asked without lifting her head up to see who it was.

"Possibly," replied a voice that Miya immediately recognized. Miya lifted her head up to see Byakuya Kuchiki standing in front of her desk.

"Good afternoon, Captain," said Miya as she tried hard to keep the annoyance and dislike out of her voice.

"Good afternoon," he replied in a calm tone. "These are for you," he said as he placed a stack of papers on the corner of her desk.

"Great," she groaned, "Just what I need—more papers." Miya saw Byakuya's frown deepen for a brief second. She stood up and picked up the large stack of papers Kiyone had given her.

"Let me help you with those." Miya glanced back at Byakuya for a second, stunned by his offer.

"No, that's okay, I can manage," she said as she struggled to open the office door with one hand. After a few seconds she finally managed to pull the door open but in the process, she nearly lost balance of the stack in her hand. Byakuya was at her side in a flash and helped steady the stack so that it wouldn't fall.

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" he asked in an even voice. Miya contemplated his question. Although she hated ever admitting that she needed help, she really doubted that she would be able to make it all the way to the Fifth Division without dropping the stack.

"I have to take them all the way to the Fifth," she said finally, hoping that the distance might dissuade his desire to help her.

"I don't mind," he replied as he looked into her dark brown eyes with his slate grey ones. "That's right next to my Division anyways."

"Um, okay then." Miya reluctantly handed the stack over to Byakuya. Byakuya followed her as she stepped out of the warm office and into the cool afternoon air. They walked in silence as they headed away from the Twelfth Division and towards the Fifth. After a few moments, Byakuya finally broke the silence.

"I've been giving some thought to what you said to me at dinner the other night."

"Oh, really?" replied Miya shocked.

"Yes. I've decided that you are right. I won't ever be able to converse easily with those who I don't know well until I try. So, I figure, if I am to try to get better at talking to people, I might as well practice with you." Miya gave him a skeptical look.

"Are you saying you wanna be my friend Captain Kuchiki?" she asked.

"For starters," he replied. "Since we're going to be working in such close proximity to one another and you are friends with my sister Rukia, we should at least try to be civil to one another."

"Humm, I suppose I could be _civil_," she said with mock seriousness. "So, Captain Kuchiki wants to be my friend. What kind of friend? Are you hoping that we'll braid each other's hair and paint each other's fingernails?" Byakuya's face instantly became serious.

"There will be absolutely no fingernail painting." Miya tried to suppress a smile as her hand went to the handle of her zanpakuto.

"No fingernail painting, got it." They walked in silence for a few moments.

Suddenly a strong breeze tore by causing the bottom of Miya's uniform top and the end of Byakuya's pale green scarf to snap violently. Miya brought her arms up and hugged across her chest for warmth.

"Cold?" asked Byakuya as he gave her a sideways glance.

"A little," she admitted as she began to rub the back of her arms. She could feel the skin on the back of her arms begin to prick up from the cold.

"We could shunpo the rest of the way," he suggested.

"That's a no-go," replied Miya. Byakuya turned and gave her a questioning look. "I can't shunpo."

"You can't shunpo?"

"Not at all. I'm a Rukongai rat, not a shinigami. I never learned how to."

"Well," said Byakuya after a moment of silence, "since you don't know how to shunpo, I suppose that I could teach you, if you like." Miya gave him a confused look.

"Wait a minute—did I hear you correctly? Did _you_ just offer to teach _me_ how to shunpo?" Byakuya nodded. "Why?" she asked thoroughly confused.

"Well," Byakuya said as he thought his answer over, "Because it would be the friendly thing to do. And, didn't we just resolve that we would try to be friends?"

"Oh," replied Miya, still confused by his sudden change in attitude towards her.

"So…?" Miya didn't know how to respond.

"Umm, I'll think about it," she finally responded. Byakuya gave her a solemn nod and then looked blankly out at the path in front of them. Suddenly, Miya felt reitsau quickly approaching. She spun around and saw Renji.

"Captain," he said to Byakuya with a respectful bow, "The Head Captain needs you."

"I'll take those," said Miya as she reached for the stack of forms Byakuya had carried for her.

"I can quickly shunpo them over to the Fifth. That way you don't have to walk the rest of the way in the cold."

"That's okay," replied Miya. "I'm pretty fond of walking. As for the cold, well, I'll survive." Byakuya hesitated for a moment before reluctantly handing the stack back over to her. "Thanks for the help. I guess I'll see you later." Byakuya gave her a small not. Miya turned and continued walking towards the Fifth Division.

"What is it that the Head Captain requires me for?" she heard Byakuya ask Renji as she walked away.

"Oh, he just needs you to—Wait a minute—Captain, what is that?" asked Renji in a shocked voice.

"What's what?" replied Byakuya in an uninterested tone.

"That—" replied Renji. Miya turned back around in time to see the disbelief in Renji's face as he pointed to Byakuya's bangs. Byakuya reached up and ran his hand along his forehead only to find that his normally freely flowing bangs where pulled together in a tight braid.

Miya tried very hard to suppress the smile but failed miserably as the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up.

At that moment, Byakuya looked over at her with his slate grey eyes. Anticipating the glare that she knew was coming, Miya mentally prepared to return his glare with an equally menacing one of her own. But, to her utter shock, there was no glare.

Instead of a glare, Miya was stunned senseless when the most sincere smile she had ever seen crossed his lips.

* * *

Jushiro couldn't sleep. He had been awaken an hour earlier by a spike of reitsau that had come from somewhere within the Seireitei. Although it had only lasted for a second, it had managed to thoroughly wake him up and he couldn't get back to sleep.

Jushiro groaned, got out of bed, and walked over to look out his window. Seeing a light on in the third floor of the common building, he had quickly shunpoed over there without even really thinking.

As Jushiro stepped onto the third floor, the sound of music once again assaulted him. He slowly made his way to the back room. There sat Miya playing the old dusty piano just like the last time he had seen her there. He pressed his back against the wall right outside the door and listened as song after song spilled out of the room and into the empty building.

He wasn't sure how long he had been standing there when he suddenly felt his throat tighten. He muffled a small string of coughs with the back of the sleeve of his captain's haori and prayed that she hadn't heard him. He waited anxiously for her to stop playing having realized that someone uninvited was there listening. But instead of stopping, Miya continued playing as if nothing had happened and after a few moments, he was able to relax again and enjoy the music.

"You can come in." The sudden sound of Miya's voice startled Jushiro causing him to jump nearly three feet up in the air. He hoped that he had just hallucinated her voice, but knowing that that wasn't so, he slowly peaked his head into the doorframe. Miya sat facing the piano with her body turned towards him.

"How did you know I was here?" he finally managed to ask after the embarrassment of having been caught subsided.

"I heard you cough during the last crescendo." _Drat_, he thought.

"And here I thought I was doing a good job of hiding the sound."

"Even if you could have muffled the noise, I still would have known you were out there."

"How? I was hiding my reitsau," he asked. His brows furrowed.

"Are you aware that your reitsau spikes when you cough?"

"No, I wasn't."

"Well, it does. Even when you hide your reitsau, a little bit spills through any time you cough. So, you were basically sending out reitsau Norse Code."

"Oh, I see." He felt his cheeks warm slightly from embarrassment. "Good to know." How had he not noticed that before?

"So, what brings you here at such a late, or, I guess technically early hour?" she asked.

"I had trouble sleeping," he replied.

"Bad dreams?"

"No, I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Me too," she replied. Silence descended on the room for a moment.

"So, you play the piano," Jushiro said after a moment. She nervously looked down.

"I hope you don't mind that I've been using the piano. I mean—it was just sitting her and no one else was using it."

"Not at all. I don't think anyone but you has so much as touched it since the Head Captain put it here for storage a while back." Miya's hands began nervously knotting the bottom of her uniform top. "You play the piano very well."

"You think so?" she asked as she lifted her head up to look at him.

"Of course. I wish I could learn how to play. I doubt that I'd have the proper coordination to do so though." Her brows furrowed slightly.

"Of course you could learn how to play," she replied.

"I seriously doubt that," he replied. A smile crossed her lips.

"Come her," she said she motioned for him to come over with her right hand. "Come here, I'll show you."

"Show me what?"

"How to play something silly." He nervously reached up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Um, I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I've never ever tried playing any musical instrument whatsoever." Recognizing his apprehension and embarrassed nervousness, Miya chuckled.

"Come on," she said. Jushiro nervously began making his way towards her and the piano. He paused a few feet away from the piano. "It'll be hard to learn how to play from all the way over there," she said. She patted the empty spot on the bench next to her motioning for him to sit down. He took a deep breath and then walked around the back of the bench and slowly sat down next to her.

The bench was small and in order for them both to fit, the whole right side of his body was pressed up against her left. He was painfully aware of every inch of his body that was pressed up against hers. Being so close, he could once again smell the scent of cherry blossoms and rain that seemed to permanently cling in her hair and on her skin. For a moment he was feared that he would possibly go mad from having his senses so fully saturated with her.

"Now," she said as she placed her delicate white hands on the piano keys, "Since this is your first time to play the piano, I'll go easy on you. Play this—" she said as she pointed to a white key near the bottom of the piano, "—and this." She pointed to another white key several notes above the first.

"Like this?" he asked as he placed his hand on the keys and pressed down. A splintering sour sound filled the room.

"Not quite," she replied. Jushiro felt his heart begin to speed up when she placed her hand on top of his and rearranged where he had placed his fingers. "Like that." He pressed down again and this time a smooth low base cord came out.

"Right," he said with a nod.

"Now, slowly count to four in your head and then pressed the keys down. Keep counting and keep pressing the keys every time you get to the number four. Leave the rest up to me."

Jushiro desperately tried to keep his hand from shaking as he pressed the notes that he had been shown. After a few moments, Miya added a melody to his harmony. The song was beautiful.

Jushiro looked up from the piano and at Miya. It took every ounce of his dwindling focus to remember to count and play. She looked enchantingly beautiful as her hands glided over the row of black and white keys in front of her. Her hands danced around each other as they made their way from the middle of the piano, to the top, and then back down. Her full pink lips were pulled up into a small smile while her coal black eyes studied the keys in front of her. A strand of her jet black hair fell on her face and for the briefest second, her right hand left the piano keys and swept the strand back behind her ear.

He knew that he would remember this moment for the rest of his life. He would always remember how breathtakingly beautiful she looked as she played into the dark night.

He watched her brows slightly furrow as she concentrated and played until the melody began to soften and eventually fade out. A few moments after she quit playing, he stopped as well.

"That song very beautiful. What's it called?" he asked.

"Honestly, I've don't know what it's called. It was one of my mother's favorites and she taught it to me when I was really young. She never did tell me what it was called, but she did tell me the story behind it." She turned and looked at him. "Do you like stories Captain?"

"Yes, I do. Would you tell it to me?" She smiled at him and his heart skipped a beat.

"You see," she began, "a very long long time ago, a man was taking a walk at night along a river bank. Suddenly, he heard this breathtakingly beautiful melody coming from a house nearby. Like gravity, the song called to the man and he was drawn closer and closer to the house. When he was close enough to be able to see through the window of the house, the man saw this beautiful young girl sitting down at an old piano. Upon seeing her, the man fell madly in love with her. Once the girl had finished playing, she disappeared into the house. Unable to summon the courage to speak to her then, the man quickly left. But, as he walked home that night, the man resolved to go to her home the next day and ask for her hand in marriage.

"So, the next day, the man went back to her house. When he arrived at the house and knocked, a little old man opened the door. When the man confessed he was in love with the old man's daughter and asked for permission to marry her, the old man gave him a confused look. 'My dear sir,' he said, 'I believe you are mistaken. I have no daughter. I used to, but she died a long time ago.' The man at the door was surprised by the old man's statement. Unwilling to give up on his love, the man at the door told the old man how he had heard and seen the girl playing the piano the night before. 'I'm sorry sir, but now I know that you are mistaken. No one has played that piano in over fifty years.'

"Seeing that the man at the door would not be so easily turned away, the old man lead him inside and showed him to the room where he had seen the girl playing the night before. The man walked up to the piano and saw the thick layer of dust lying over the ivory keys. It indeed hadn't been touched in quite some time. The man was confused to say the least. How had it been that merely the night before he had seen someone playing a piano that clearly hadn't been touched in forever? It was only then that the man noticed the small picture sitting in a frame on a low table near the piano. The man walked over and picked the frame up and couldn't believe what he saw. There in the picture, was the girl from the night before. Printed on the bottom of the picture was the date. It had been taken fifty years ago. The man left the house heartbroken. It's said that he went mad after that, every night for the rest of his life, he would walk up and down the streets of the city, hoping vainly to hear the song of his beloved so that he could find her once again. But, sadly, he never heard that song again." A moment of silence filled the room before Jushiro broke it.

"That's a sad story," said Jushiro as he looked down and ran his hand over the white keys. "Is it true?"

"Did some poor human fall in love with a shinigami only to never see her again? Humm, I don't know. I suppose it could be. But, whether it is or not, it's the moral of the story that matters."

"The moral? And just what might that be?"

"Well, I guess it's—if you love someone, you should say it right then, out loud. Otherwise, the moment just passes you by and you can never get it back. You'll forever regret missing out on something that could have been so perfect and spend the rest of your life chasing a dream that's already gone." At hearing this, Jushiro turned back to look at her.

Their eyes met in an intense gaze.

She was right. If he waited forever, he'd lose his chance.

The air around them had suddenly felt as if it had been statically charged. She cleared her throat suddenly and looked away.

"You did pretty well for your first time," she said to try and ease the tension.

"Well, in all fairness, you did help me a little." She gave him a mischievous half smile. "Well, okay, maybe a lot." The other half of her mouth turned up.

"Want to play another one?" she asked with an excited smile. Jushiro couldn't find his voice. He merely nodded yes. "Okay," she replied happily. "This time play this." Jushiro once again managed to strike the wrong notes on his first try. Miya once again reached over to reposition his hand on the piano but this time, a mere fraction of a second before her hand would have been on top of his, he quickly flipped his hand over so that when she placed her hand on his, they were palm to palm. Jushiro heard Miya's breath catch in her throat from the shock of his unexpected action. He waited for her to pull away, for her to brush the gesture off, but she didn't. She kept her hand in his and after a moment, Jushiro laced his fingers though hers. He slowly rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

He looked up at her face and met her black eyes with his brown ones. He immediately noticed a softness in her eyes that hadn't been there a moment before. He brought his free hand up and ever so gently cupped the left side of her face. He saw her black eyes widen for a moment before they flickered to his lips and then back to his eyes. His heart began pounding in his ears as he slowly began to close the distance between them. When their lips were merely inches away, he saw her eyes close.

He closed his eyes as well and continued to close the distance between their lips.

"Captain!" The sudden sound caused Jushiro to jump so hard he nearly knocked Miya off of the piano bench. Jushiro's eyes snapped open and he looked in the direction the voice had come from. There in the doorway with the most bewildered look he had ever seen stood Kiyone.

"Kiyone?" he asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?" She quickly composed herself and stood at attention.

"Captain, I've been looking for you for the past half hour. There is an urgent matter that required your immediate attention. The rest of the captains have been summoned and are waiting for you to join them at the first division."

"Right," he said as he processed her words. An urgent matter that required a captain's meeting in the middle of the night? This couldn't possibly be good, in fact—things were probably very, very bad. He looked back towards Miya. Her face was turned away from him now. "I'm sorry Miss Miya, but I have to leave." She didn't turn back to face him, she merely gave a small nod. He opened his mouth to say something else to her but he was cut off by Kiyone before he had the chance.

"Captain—I'm afraid you're needed immediately. The matter can't wait another second." Reluctantly, Jushiro nodded to Kiyone and quickly stood up. He quickly made his way towards where she stood near the door and before he left the room to follow her, he turned around to look at Miya once again. But, to his surprise, she was no longer sitting on the piano bench. He quickly scanned the room with his eyes but found nothing.

She was gone.

**A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long to update. Work's been crazy. This chapter was originally going to be two chapters but it just didn't have the same effect when read separate. I hope you liked this chapter—some Jushiro, a little bit of Byakuya, and Kiyone being a total cock block!**

**I'm a really big music fan and I've placed a link on my profile of one of the songs that I picture Miya playing. The song that Miya and Jushiro play as a together is actually a part of Moonlight Sonata. There's a part in Moonlight Sonata where the base hand plays just one cord over and over again (hence why Jushiro can play it!). There's also a link on my profile for Moonlight Sonata as well.**

**Thanks for the reviews—they really keep me motivated to continue writing!**

**Review Please :)**


	15. Chapter 14: Meeting

**Disclaimer: I don not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 14: Meeting**

The call for a captain's meeting couldn't have come at a worse time.

Jushiro had been so close to kissing Miya that he could feel her warm breath against his lips when Kiyone had come barging in.

_Seriously? _He thought. _I just can't catch a break._

For some reason, it seemed as if the whole universe was trying to keep him from getting close to her.

_If that's the case, then this is one instance where the universe is just going to have to change its mind._

Things were definitely bad Jushiro concluded as he walked through the First Division meeting hall doors. The atmosphere in the room was tenser than he had felt in a long time. He surveyed the room and was relieved to find that he wasn't the last one to arrive. Ichigo also had yet to appear.

Jushiro quickly took his place in line next to Zaraki.

"Do you know what's going on?" he asked Zaraki in a low voice.

"Humph, the hell if I know. I got here just seconds before you did."

"It must be bad," said Hisagi. Jushiro and Zaraki both turned to look at him.

"Oh yeah? And how would you know that?" asked Zaraki with a skeptical look.

"Come on, don't tell me you honestly didn't felt that reitsau spike earlier."

"I didn't feel anything. Then again, I've never been good at sensing reitsau," replied Zaraki.

"You seriously didn't feel anything? It was so strong. I wouldn't be surprised if shinigami out in Rukongai felt it."

"I felt it," said Jushiro. "It actually woke me up. I couldn't sleep after that. It didn't seem too strong to me."

"Yeah, well, I was awake when it happened. Although it only lasted for a second, it somehow managed to knock the wind out of me."

"Really? It was that strong?" he asked. Hisagi nodded. The sudden sound of Yamamoto's voice caused Jushiro to turn. At the front of the room standing in front of the head captain's desk stood Byakuya.

"If you settle down and go stand in line, you'll find out soon enough," said the Head Captain in an authoritative voice. Byakuya turned reluctantly and went and stood at his spot in line.

"What the hell guys?" All the captains turned to see Ichigo enter the room. The orange haired captain shrugged his right arm into his white captain's haori and began tucking his black shinigami uniform into place as he walked to his spot. His eyes were squinty, his hair was a wire mess, and a small trail of drool trickled down one of the corners of his mouth. It was apparent that he had woken up only moments before. "Some of us actually like to get some sleep at night."

"Yeah," agreed Zaraki, "And some of us like to do more…interesting things." From the corner of his eyes Jushiro saw Soi Fon blush a bright scarlet.

"Seriously, what's going on?" asked Ichigo as he took his place near the front of the room between Amagai and Komamura.

"If you would settle down and wait patiently like I just told Captain Kuchiki, you'll find out soon enough." The head captain waited until the meeting hall doors closed before answering the question. "I apologize for the lateness of the hour, but a matter has come to my attention that must be addressed immediately." Ichigo groaned.

"If squirrel-like hollows have been eating the plants in your garden again and you need us to go out and kill them, I swear I'm—" The head captain gave Ichigo a vicious glare out of the corner of his eyes causing the orange haired captain to shut up.

"As I was saying," continued Yamamoto, "There is an urgent matter at hand. I don't know how many of you were awake when it happened, but several hours ago there was a sudden spike of reitsau from somewhere in the Seireitei."

"I was awake taking care of the baby when it happened. The spike was so strong it woke Nanao and the girls up. It took them forever to go back asleep. Did you happen to find what caused it?" asked Shunsui.

"Amagai was on patrol when it happened," said the head captain as he nodded towards the Third Division captain.

"The essence of the reitsau was different than anything I have ever felt before. Although it presumably came from a shinigami, it felt more hollow-like than anything else. Although it only lasted for a second, I was able to determine that the source of the reitsau came from somewhere on the Third Division Grounds. I sent the part of my squad that was out on patrol to search around and see if they could find anything. They searched the division grounds but found no trace of the foreign reitsau."

"Well, if they didn't find anything, why did you call us in?" asked Toshiro in an annoyed tone.

"Now hold on just a minute—I said that they didn't find any reitsau traces. I didn't say that they found nothing important at all," said Amagai. His brows furrowed. "Two of the squad members came across a pile of black clothes laying on the ground. At first, they thought that it wasn't anything important, but, after further examination, it was determined that the black clothes were actually the uniform belonging to Maro, one of my unranked squad members. Maro was on patrol tonight and since his uniform was found, no one has been able to locate him. The last time anyone actually saw him was about half an hour before the reitsau spike. There's no way he could have left the Seireitei unnoticed and unless he all of a sudden learned how to conceal his reitsau and has gone into hiding for some reason, there is no trace of him anywhere."

"Wait a minute, are you saying that Maro's missing and that might somehow be linked to the foreign reitsau spike from earlier?" asked Toshiro.

"Now, we don't want to jump to any conclusions since we're not exactly sure what's happened to him," said the head captain. "I just wanted to make you all aware of the situation and the possibility that the two events are related. Just in case they are, we should go ahead and take some preventative measures. I would like for you all to have your squad members patrol in groups of two for now. We will be enforcing a 12:00am curfew for all unranked shinigami until further notice. We must all remain vigilant until we get down to the bottom of things."

"Will you be cancelling the Winter Gala tomorrow night in light of these events?" asked Kurotsuchi hopefully. It was a well known fact that the Twelfth Division captain hated parties. Every year he looked for any possible excuse to get out of going to the Annual Serete Winter Gala.

"As seeing how we're not exactly sure what's going on, I don't think we need to cancel the event," replied the head captain. "Plus, I've already paid the musicians." Kurotsuchi frowned. "Just make sure to remain on guard. I expect to see you all at the Gala tomorrow night," said the head captain as he gave Kurotsuchi a sideways glance. "Meeting adjourned." The head captain banged the end of his cane on the floor signaling the end of the meeting. The shinigami captains broke formation and began to walk towards the exit.

"Humph," said Ichigo as he walked towards the door, "So the whole point of this 'emergency' meeting was to tell us that there might be a naked shinigami running around out there somewhere. I really don't think that merited me having to come all the way over here in the middle of the night. I'm getting out of here."

"Nice shoes," said Zaraki as Ichigo stormed by. Ichigo stopped dead in his tracks and looked down and saw a fuzzy pair of Chappy the Rabbit slippers on his feet. His eyes widened in confusion before they narrowed.

"Rukia," he growled through clenched teeth. "So that's why she was laughing on the way over here." Zaraki laughed as Ichigo stormed off.

"Zaraki!" Jushiro turned and saw a very angry Soi Fon quickly tapping her foot near the door.

"Hi honey," said Zaraki with a wave. Her eyes narrowed at him menacingly and her foot began to tap the ground harder. "I better go looks like the wife is ready to get back to…umm…sleep." Zaraki joined his wife at the door and the two of them took off down the hallway. Shunsui walked over and was about to say something but was cut off by an unexpected voice.

"Ukitake," Jushiro spun around and saw Byakuya approaching. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn that the stoic captain seemed a bit…anxious.

"What is it Byakuya?" he asked.

"Are all the members of your squad accounted for?" Thrown off by his question, Jushiro stood there blinking for a few moments before answering.

"Yeah, I guess so." Byakuya's brows furrowed.

"No, no guessing—Are _all_ the members of your squad accounted for or not?" Jushiro was surprised to hear that Byakuya's normally calm and composed voice was tinged with anger.

"I believe so."

"You believe so? Why don't you know so?"

"Well, I—"

"What kind of captain doesn't know whether or not all of his squad is safe and accounted for?"

"Look," he said, his voice suddenly hard, "I'm guessing that they're all okay because none of them were on patrol tonight. And furthermore, unlike the rest of the squads, I have always had my squad run patrol in groups of two.

"But still—"

"Byakuya," said Jushiro in an anger laced voice, "I don't tell you how to run your squad so you shouldn't try to tell me how to run mine."

"Yeah, little Byakuya" Shunsui chimed in, "Oh, and my squad's safe too. Thank you for asking. Now that you're done making sure our squads are fine, why don't you go and check on your own. I know for a fact that your squad was on patrol tonight."

Byakuya glanced at Shunsui from the corner of his eyes before glaring at Jushiro again. He saw Byakuya's jaw tense before he turned and strode out of the meeting hall.

"What the hell was that about?" he asked himself out loud as he watched Byakuya disappear around the corner. He turned and saw his friend thoughtfully rubbing the stubble on his chin. "I swear, that guy gets weirder and weirder every day."

"Indeed."

* * *

"Okay, spill," said Shunsui as Jushiro took a spoonful of orange mush out of the bunny shaped bowl in front of him.

"About what?" he asked giving his friend a confused look.

"You know about what," said Shunsui with a sly smile. His friend placed the empty baby bottle in his hand down on the table before cradling his small son against his right shoulder. He gently began patting his son's tiny back. "You've had this dreamy look in your eyes all morning and you've been really distracted."

"Distracted? I haven't been distracted," he replied.

"You just fed my daughter's ear mushy carrots." Jushiro's eyes widened when he turned his head and saw Hana pulling an orange mush covered hand away from her ear. She brought her small hand in front of her face and stared at it confusingly.

"Oh Hana, I'm sorry!" Jushiro quickly placed the baby spoon back into the bunny shaped bowl and reached for the napkin lying next to it. He wiped her small hand clean before wiping the remaining mushy carrots off of her ear.

The little girl's eyebrows suddenly furrowed as she reached into her bowl and pulled out a handful of peas. She threw the handful of peas at him and they bounced off his chest before landing on the table. At seeing the dejected look on his face, the little girl laughed and began clapping her hands together.

"Hana," warned Shunsui in a fatherly tone, "It's not nice to throw food at people." The little girl pouted before reaching for her sippy cup. "So," continued Shunsui turning his attention to his friend again, "Spill."

Jushiro sighed.

"Miya and I almost kissed."

"Jushiro, you dog! You haven't even asked her out and you're already going for gold! I'm so proud to call you my friend." Shunsui's baby made a small burp and he left the room briefly to go and lay him down. "So, you said that you almost kissed," said Shunsui when he returned to the room. "What on earth stopped you?"

"Kiyone. She came running in and dragged me off to that captain's meeting."

"Tough break." His friend made his way around the table and took Hana out of her high chair and set her on the floor. She took off running. "So what are you going to do next? I mean, she clearly likes you since she didn't try to stop you or hit you with anything. Although, being hit by a girl when you try to pull a move isn't always a bad sign. Nanao hit me with a book anytime I tried to pull a move on her for the first hundred years or so." Jushiro laughed.

"She _still_ smacks you with that book," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but now that's just her way of saying she loves me," he replied with a smile. Shunsui began stacking the dirty dinner plates. "Hey—I know what you should do next. You should ask Miya to be your date to the Winter Gala tomorrow night."

"No, I can't do that."

"And why not?" asked Shunsui.

"Because it's tomorrow night. It'll seem like an afterthought if I ask her on such short notice."

"Jushiro, you're seriously putting way too much forethought into things. You need to relax and forget about doing what sounds right and start doing what feels right."

At that moment, Nanao walked into the kitchen. She had a rag in one hand and was wiping at a dark stain over her left shoulder from where the baby had spit up earlier.

"Nanao-chan!" exclaimed Shunsui. He left the dirty dished on the table and danced over to where she was. He lifted her up in his arms and began twirling her around.

"Put me down!" she exclaimed as she half-heartedly beat on his biceps. Shunsui put her back down on her feet and hugged her to his chest.

"Nanao-chan," he said after a few moments. "You still smell like baby puke." In a flash, Nanao had produced a fan out of thin air and smacked Shunsui in the face. He let out an "ouch" and then brought a hand up to rub his injured nose. "See, I told you she loves me."

* * *

Miya slowly made her way along the dirt path that cut through the northern part of the Seireitei. The path was surrounded on either side by empty fields that according to Rukia had to be used as the training grounds when the academy first started up. After several years though, proper training grounds were built and the fields were abandoned. The fields were neglected and overgrown now with grass that reached her hips. Every time the wind would pick up, the grass would sway in it creating the effect of seeing waves in an ocean of green.

Past the fields Miya could see the southern part of the Northern Woods. She had never really noticed how big the Seireitei was until she had started living there. Maybe the domed spiritual barrier that surrounded the Seireitei had the same effect as looking through the glass of a snow globe—everything seemed smaller than it actually was.

Miya kicked a rock off of the path and into the tall grass. She was glad that it was Saturday and that she wouldn't have to see Jushiro today. After what had happened early that morning, she really needed time to think.

The moment Jushiro looked into her eyes after lacing his fingers through hers, everything became clear to her: the reason why her heart would involuntarily stutter every time she saw him, the reason why she couldn't stop herself from smiling when she was with him, the reason why she hadn't wanted to let go of him the night he carried her home, and above all—the reason why seeing him made her nervous and not seeing him made her even more so.

She liked him, far more than she knew she should.

She had been kissed several times before, but none of them had been special. Although she realized how foolish the idea was now, when she was younger she had seen kissing as a rite of passage, as that last step that needed to be taken in order to completely transform from a child into an adult. So, when the opportunity had arisen for the first time, she had let herself be kissed. It was at a New Years' party and it had been with a boy whom she had met earlier that evening. The kiss had been brief and the only memorable thing about it was the fact that the boys lips were so chapped it had felt like kissing sandpaper. She had been disappointed to say the least. Contrary to her friend's stories, there was no butterflies, no fireworks, nothing. She had merely felt nervous before kissing him and afterwards, she hadn't felt anything at all.

The second time had been better. The boy's lips hadn't been chapped but he had kissed her in the middle of a crowded street and she had felt so self conscious that she couldn't relax into it. The result had been a very stiff and uncomfortable kiss although the boy hadn't seemed to mind.

Soon after that, her mother had died. She was left orphaned and alone on the streets of Rukongai. Every day turned into a struggle to live, to survive. There had been little time for kissing or anything else.

Although she had been kissed before, she knew that kissing Jushiro would be different. For the first time in her life, Miya actually wanted to be kissed and not just by anyone—by him.

And that scared her.

By kissing him, Miya was afraid that the feelings that she had slowly been building up inside of her from the first moment they had met, the feelings that she had just come to understand, would morph into something more. She was scared that kissing him would seal her fate, would tip the scale, would send her over the edge into a place where she would have no control.

She was scared that by kissing him, she would fall in love with him.

Falling in love was the last thing she could afford to do.

Love made you weak, it made you vulnerable, and in the end, love would only hurt you.

Miya's mother never got over the pain of losing her father. Although he had treated her horribly, she still couldn't bring herself to stop loving him. Over the years Miya had watched as her mother had tried to fill the hole her father had left in her heart with all kinds of men, many of whom were shinigami. They had each claimed to love her and at first, it had appeared as if they did. But, as soon as they became bored, they left her broken, lonely, and even more depressed then before. Each time it happened her mother would slip further and further away from her into a place where Miya, try as she may, couldn't reach her.

Slowly, her mother quit going to work.

Then she quit leaving the house.

She quit leaving her room.

She quit getting out of bed.

She quit talking and then she quit eating.

And then one day, she quit living altogether.

"Don't ever fall in love Miya," her mother had said to her during one of her lucid periods two weeks before she died. "Love is a disease—it gives you a fever and then it leaves you cold. In the end, it will only destroy you."

She refused to ever be as vulnerable as her mother had been—she refused to ever give anyone enough of herself so that they could hurt her.

The feel of a large fat raindrop hitting the top of her nose caused Miya to snap back into the present. She wiped the drop of moisture off her nose and looked up at the sky. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the dark grey clouds roll in above her.

Another drop of rain hit her on the forehead. The speed at which the drops fell began to get faster and faster. Miya quickly glanced around looking for shelter from the rain. Spotting a lone tree standing in the middle of the field, she started running towards it.

Once she was under its protective cover, she beat the drops that had hit her on the shoulder off and then shook the drops of moisture from her hair. The speed of the rain increased again and realizing that she wouldn't be able to leave any time soon, she leaned against the trunk of the tree and watched as the rain fell.

"You do realize that you're standing under a tree, in the center of a field, in the middle of a storm, don't you?" The unexpected voice startled her and she quickly looked in the direction the voice had come from.

"Captain Kuchiki?" Byakuya stood several feet away from her under the protection of the large tree. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same question. Trees are like weather vanes during a storm—they attract lightning."

_Darn,_ she thought, _I forgot about that._

"Well lucky for me there's no lightning." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, there was a bright flash off in the distance that hyper illuminated everything for a fraction of a second. It was shortly followed by a loud roar of thunder.

"Hiding from the storm under here is probably the most idiotic thing you could have done." Miya's jaw clenched in anger.

"Well, it's not like you're any smarter—you're standing under here too!" Byakuya's eyebrows rose in surprise. He clearly hadn't expected her to answer that way.

"Yes, but I'm only doing it so that I can get you to move out from under here," he said as the wind caused the ends of his pale green scarf to snap violently.

"Why do you care whether or not I get struck by lightning?"

"Well, if I have the option, I'd rather not be friends with someone whose hair sticks up like Zaraki's. One bolt of lightning hitting would be all it'd take for your hair to forever stand on end." A confused expression formed on her face.

_Wait a minute_, she thought, _What did he just say?_

Miya saw the right corner of Byakuya's mouth twitch.

"Captain Kuchiki—did—did you just try to make a joke?" The confusion on her face must have been more apparent than she though because at that moment she saw the corner of his mouth twitch again.

"What do you mean try? I most definitely succeeded."

"Uh, no you didn't. But you do get an A for effort," she said as the corners of her mouth involuntarily pulled up.

There was another flash of lightning followed by another boom of thunder off in the distance.

"I wasn't joking about lightning being attracted to trees. We should really get out of here."

She looked out into the field as the rain continued to fall harder. Even if she used her zanpakuto to stop the rain, it wouldn't stop her from getting wet. The rain drops would merely be suspended as they fell through the air and she'd just end up walking right through them.

"I can't," she said, "It's still raining."

"If getting wet is what you're worried about, I could shunpo you home. I'd rather you not catch pneumonia." A frustrated growl escaped her lips as she remembered the last time she had been shunpoed by someone. The memory caused the turbulent thoughts she had been thinking to resurface.

"What is it with you shinigami and the need to shunpo everywhere you go? What's wrong with walking? I like walking. Normally people walk. Why—"

Byakuya disappeared in the blink of an eye. Miya's mouth hung slightly open with the weight of what she was going to say still hanging in her mouth.

She blinked stupidly for a moment…

_How rude was that? Just because I'm opposed to shunpo, it didn't mean that I wanted to be left alone. _

Byakuya suddenly reappeared causing Miya to jump slightly. In his right hand he held a large pale green umbrella that matched the color of his scarf.

"Okay," he said in a calm voice, "We'll walk."

"Oh, I thought you left me for a minute there."

"Of course not, what kind of friend would I be if I did?" Miya gave him a skeptical look. She really couldn't get what was going on with Byakuya. His attitude towards her had changed so much since the first time she had met him. Although she hadn't believed him when he told her, now it appeared as if he really did want to try to be her friend. "Come on, time to get away from the tree," he said after a moment of silence passed between them. He snapped the umbrella open.

"Humph. I don't think you're worried about lightning hitting me at all. I think you're really just concerned about the tree. Is it yours or something? Is this Kuchiki's tree?" she asked as she went to go stand under the umbrella. They walked out from under the protection of the tree and into the open field. The rain thumped loudly as it hit the top of the umbrella.

"Actually, yes, it is. This tree is on Kuchiki land and so in effect, it is my tree."

"Really?" she asked, suddenly embarrassed that she had unknowingly been trespassing on his land.

"No, not really." Confused by his statement, Miya turned her head just in time to see the corner of his mouth twitch again.

"Damn it Kuchiki! Was that another lame attempt at a joke?"

"No," he replied as he turned to look at her with a smile, "It was another success."

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you so very much for all the reviews! They really keep me motivated to keep writing and not just give up. I read this chapter over several times and hopefully I caught all of the mistakes.**

**The more I write, the more I realize how Texan I am. Just this week I learned that Miranda'll, gunna, fixn'a, would'a, ya'll, and ain't aren't real words. You can imagine how devastated I was :)**

**I'm trying really hard to keep southern slang and syntax out of my writing. A while back someone mentioned how Jushiro called Miya "Miss Miya." It was unconsciously done, but I'm glad you liked it. It's a thing a lot of us do in the region where I live. For some reason, no matter how young or old a woman may be, we put "Miss" in front of their name as a sign of respect.**

**Anyhow, I hope you liked this chapter. I hadn't originally planned on writing this chapter but after thinking about my story and where it's going, I realized that it was necessary to the plot. I promise that things will really start to take off from here.**

**Some of you have speculated about a possible three sided object appearing in my story. At this point, I'm not going to confirm or deny anything. But, I will say this, triangles are my favorite shape :)**

**Until next time!**

**Review Please :)**


	16. Chapter 15: Book

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 15: Book**

Miya flipped through a large stack of old books on a vendor's cart. She picked up a large green colored book, held it inches away from her mouth, and blew the thick layer of dust off the cover. A few seconds later she heard someone cough.

"Hey, watch it!" said a tall shinigami who she hadn't even noticed had been standing there. "I have allergies."

"Oh, sorry," she replied with an apologetic smile, "I didn't see you standing there." The shinigami snorted, glared at her, and then briskly walked away. She sighed and then continued looking through the stacks of books.

After Byakuya had walked her back to the Thirteenth Division the day before, Miya had spent the rest of the day in her small apartment. She had spent a few hours flipping through the books that she had borrowed from the library but was unable to get into any of them as her mind kept wandering elsewhere.

Giving up on reading but unable to leave her apartment due to the continuing downpour, Miya had spent the rest of the day meticulously cleaning every square inch of her apartment in an attempt to get her mind off Jushiro. It did no good. She ended up thinking about him while she scrubbed the floors, while she rearranged the furniture, and even while she whisked the couch. Finally, she had just given up trying to distract herself and went to bed early hoping to fall asleep quickly. No such luck. She had ended up lying awake in bed for several hours before finally being able to fall asleep.

Determined not to ever get stuck at home with nothing besides her thoughts to keep her company on a rainy day ever again, Miya had decided to go book hunting at the market. She had woken up early that morning, showered, and then walked to the market district.

Although she had only been to the market once before with Rukia and Matsumoto, she had distinctly remembered seeing a book vendor there. The market was larger than she had remembered after stopping to ask directions thee times, Miya finally found the book vendor on one of the market corners.

The book vendor was a bald little old man who smelled like old paper. His shop was a large cart whose sides would open up revealing row after row of books.

"Is there anything in particular that you're looking for?" she heard the cart vendor ask her from his chair located at the front of the cart.

"I'm just looking," she replied.

"Okay. Take your time."

Miya slowly made her way around the back of the cart reading title after title. Her eyes stopped as soon as they read the binding on a two inch thick maroon book on the top shelf.

She reached up to grab it and her hand hit the binding the same time as someone else's did. She turned to see who had also grabbed the book and let out a small gasp when she found herself staring into a very familiar pair of warm brown eyes.

"Captain Ukitake," she stated in shock.

"Miss Miya," he replied with an equal amount of shock in his voice.

"It's nice to see you," they both said in perfect unison. She looked down nervously and a moment of silence passed between them.

"I was just doing some book shopping," she finally said as casually as possible.

"Oh yes, me too," he replied. "Have you found anything you like yet?"

"No, I'm still looking. You?"

"No such luck," he replied. "But, I do think that this one did catch both of our eyes." He reached for the book she had been about to grab, pulled it down, and then handed it over to her. She took the book and ran her fingers over the chipped golden letters that lay on the front cover. "Are you a fan of the writer?" he asked after she hadn't said anything.

"As a matter of fact, I am," she replied before looking up to meet his gentle gaze. "This, was actually my mother's favorite book. She used to sit on the porch and read from it every night while me and the kids from my neighborhood in Rukongai would play in the streets. It was one of the few things of hers that I kept after she passed away." Her eyes left his and went back to the worn book cover.

"A few yeast after she died," she said, her voice softer than it had been a moment before, "Kazuma and I hid from a snow storm in a storage shed on the outskirts of Rukongai. The storm was so bad it ended up trapping us inside. It was so cold in there. I thought we were going to freeze to death.

"Kazuma eventually got into my bag while I was sleeping and pulled my mother's book out. He ripped it to pieces and used it to start a fire. I could have killed him," she said with a nostalgic smile. "It worked though—we were able to stay alive until the shed owner went out there to get something, dug the snow away, and found us. Our relief at being saved lasted about two seconds. The shed owner was pretty mad when he saw that we had burned his work benches in order to stay alive."

"After my mother's book was destroyed, I started looking for another copy of it any time I would pass a book vendor in Rukongai. I'd never seen another one until now. Who knew I would find one here of all places?" She flipped the book open and ran her fingers along the raised black lettering on the first page. She looked on the inside front cover and nearly had a heart attack when she saw the price.

_Seriously?_ she thought, _who can honestly pay that much for a book? It's nearly ten times what my monthly stipend is!_

Her chest fell.

She closed the book and handed it back to him.

"You're not going to get it?" he asked, a confused look on his face.

"Not today," she replied. _Or tomorrow, or anytime within the next ten months._

He took the book from her and placed it back on the shelf.

She sighed.

"I should probably be heading back to the Thirteenth," she said.

"Allow me to accompany you then," he said, a smile on his face, "I was just about to head back there myself." She smiled and nodded in return and they both began making their way out of the busy market and towards the Thirteenth Division.

"So, are you excited about the gala tonight?" he asked as their way down the crowded market street.

"I don't think I'm going to go," she replied. Truth be told, she had originally planned on going—that is until Kiyone and several other squad members made it pretty clear that event was strictly for shinigami and she would be unwelcomed and unwanted there.

"Oh, really? Why not?"

"Because, well, I don't think that I would really fit in there. I mean, the gala is for shinigami after all and I'm most definitely not a shinigami."

"That doesn't matter," replied Jushiro. "The gala is for anyone who lives in the Seireitei and assists the Gotei 13 Court Guard Squads. You most definitely fit that criteria."

"Still," she said, "I just don't really feel like I would fit in. I live here and I work here, but I'm not really one of you. Come to think of it, because of my special abilities, I never really fit in in Rukongai either. So, I guess I've never really fit in anywhere. Sometimes I wonder if I ever will."

"I know exactly how you feel," he said with a thoughtful look.

"You do?" she asked surprised.

"Yes. Do you remember how I told you that Ukitake's are a noble family?" Miya nodded. "Well, what I didn't tell you was the fact that we're actually at the very bottom of the nobility totem pole. That wasn't always the case though. Our family head a few generations back had a little bit of a gambling problem. Over the course of a few years he managed to squander away most of the families' fortune and tarnished the family name. After that, my families' nobility status began to decrease until we eventually wound up on the very bottom of the noble hierarchy. Many of the highest ranking noble families, like the Kuchiki's for example, don't even consider us noble at all.

"However, since we're still officially classified as 'noble' because of our name, we're still required to attend all noble events and attend all the proper schools. Up until I was a teenager, I attended the King's Royal Academy, a school strictly for the children of noble families. I grew up with highly ranked noble children but, because of the errors of my ancestors and my families' subsequent demise, I was always treated as a second class citizen. I was a noble by birth, but that fact alone didn't help me fit in. I was clearly different from the rest of the noble children.

Eventually I got fed up with it all—the cutthroat fights for status, the sideways comments and glances—the petty games that nobles play. So, I quit going to the noble academy and started going to the shinigami academy. Although I hated shinigami, I disliked nobles and their way of life even more."

"Wait a minute," said Miya thinking that she might have heard him incorrectly, "You hated shinigami?" He nodded. "Why?"

"Because a lot of the ones I knew up until then were crooked. They were mostly employed by the noble families and abused their powers and took whatever they wanted."

"I don't understand," replied Miya. "If you hated shinigami, then, why ever did you become one?"

"Well, because for each bad shinigami I met, I met five times as many good ones. I believed in the basic shinigami code—truth, honor, and justice. Shinigami's serve an important role here in the Seireitei—they help provide order in an otherwise unruly world. The longer I lived and trained here in the Soul Society, the more and more I began to see how most shinigami were people who had the same values as me.

"The shinigami world is very different form the noble one. Unlike the noble world where birth, family name, and title determine a person's position, the shinigami world is run based on the merit system. It doesn't matter if you were born a noble or came from the poorest district in Rukongai, in this world you progress by earning it. Nothing comes easy and nothing is ever just handed to you—you have to work for what you get. We're all on equal footing here."

Miya thought about what he had said. She had never really thought about it that way before. The longer she stayed in the Seireitei, the more and more she had come to believe that maybe she had been wrong about shinigami.

"Anyways," he said as they reached the Thirteenth Division, "You should really think about coming to the gala. There'll be live music and there's always dancing. I know how fond you are of both." Miya sighed, her resolve wavering.

"I don't know. I mean, it's not like anyone's going to miss me if I don't show up."

"You're wrong. I know lots of people who'll miss you if you don't come."

"Like who?" she asked while quirking an eyebrow.

"Well….like me." Miya tried hard to stop the blush she felt creeping into her cheeks at his response. He smiled at her and bowed before shunpoing away.

After he left, instead of going back to her apartment Miya quickly made her way to the Tenth Division. She needed to see Matsumoto as soon as possible.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter and the next one were also originally one chapter. The chapter was over fourteen pages when I finished typing it so I decided to split it up. I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you so much for all of your reviews on my last chapter. I'm really glad that you're enjoying my story!**

**Review Please :)**


	17. Chapter 16: Dance

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Chapter 16: Dance**

The Winter Gala was an event sponsored by the Head Captain and held at his estate every year for the captains, lieutenants, and squad members of the Gotei 13 Court Guard Squads. The event had started out as a simply dinner and had over the years evolved into a full blown ball. Due to its western theme, the Winter Gala was unlike any other event in the entire Soul Society.

As Jushiro stepped from the foyer into the grand ballroom, he couldn't help but be stunned. Black and white marble tiles covered the floor. The walls were painted a dark red that was accented with white crown molding that lined the borders of the large white ceiling. In the center of the roof poised directly over the center of the dance floor was a massive glass chandelier that hung forty feet up in the air. Large black flower vases filled with white roses lined the sides of the ballroom. A series of round tables topped with massive floral centerpieces occupied the side of the room closest to the foyer where he had entered. A long bar ran down the left side of the room. The wall opposite the bar was composed of large windows. The curtains were pulled back revealing the black sky filled with thousands and thousands of twinkling stars. Below the windows was a row of glass doors that led out to a large balcony. In the back of the room adjacent to the dance floor there was an orchestra. The orchestra played a quick upbeat tune as several couples swirled and spun their way around the dance floor.

"Wow," said Shunsui as he held on to Nanao with his right arm and looked out into ballroom. "Looks like Old Man Yama went all out this year."

"It definitely looks more elaborately decorated than it has been in the past," said Nanao as she pushed her glasses higher up in the bridge of her nose.

"Nanao-chan, have I told you yet how beautiful you look tonight?" asked Shunsui turning to look at his wife. It was odd for Jushiro to see Nanao wearing anything but her shinigami uniform. Tonight she was wearing a tight form fitting red satin dress that had a scalloped neck line and a slit in the skirt that ended only inches below her hip.

"Only a dozen times," she replied. Jushiro saw her blush slightly. "You don't look so bad yourself," she said to Shunsui as she tugged on the lapel of his white suit jacket.

"So sassy, Nanao-chan. I might have to take advantage of you," said Shunsui. "After all, I'd like to have another son by next winter." Shunsui was suddenly smacked in the head by a fan that Nanao hadn't been holding a moment before. "Owww!"

"That's what you get."

"Why so mean Nanao-chan?"

"Humph. There'll be no more babies any time soon unless you plan on carrying them for nine months yourself!"

"Aw, Nanao-chan, you know men can't have babies. And besides—we both know that you can't keep your hands off of me." Nanao's eyebrows furrowed in anger and she glared at Shunsui. A moment later, however, her face relaxed as she sighed in defeat.

Jushiro scanned the crowd on the dance floor and the crowd near the door but came up empty handed. He nervously began tugging on the sleeve of his navy blue suit jacket.

"Don't fret Jushiro, she'll be her sooner or later," said Shunsui. "How about a drink?" Jushiro and Nanao nodded and then the three of them headed over to the bar.

Jushiro slowly sipped on a glass of sake next to the bar. Within a few minutes, they were joined by Nemu, Renji, and Toshiro.

Jushiro couldn't stop his eyes from darting over towards the door every few minutes. The room began to fill more and more until Jushiro could no longer see the door from where he was standing. About ten minutes later, there was an opening in the crowd. Jushiro's breath caught in his throat.

Miya had finally arrived. She was wearing a form fitting emerald green silk gown that belled out at the waist and trailed two feet behind her as she walked. Through the slit in the front of the dress that ended halfway up her thighs, he could see a pair of delicate golden colored shoes. The front of the dress came down into a low V in the middle of her chest. Her coal black hair was styled elegantly on her head. From where he stood, Jushiro could see the sparkle of several clips that held it in place. Hanging from her ears was a pair of small sparkling chandelier earrings.

She looked like a dream.

When she reached the dance floor she stopped walking. She began fidgeting nervously and unconsciously pulled the top of her dress up, trying to get it to cover more of her front. He saw her nervously scan the room. When her eyes finally found him standing near the bar, she stopped.

Their eyes locked in an intense gaze for a moment before her full red lips pulled up into a delicate smile.

Jushiro's heart skipped a beat.

He returned her smile with one of his own.

The next second, Miya was joined by Matsumoto, Rukia, and Ichigo. The group of four slowly made their way to the bar. She stopped walking and stood a few feet from him.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," was all he could manage to reply in return. "Um, you look beautiful." He said after he came out of his temporary stupor.

"Thank you," she said. She looked back up and their eyes met again. "Matsumoto picked out the dress."

"Didn't I do a great job!" exclaimed the blonde as she gave Miya a big hug.

"Yes, I dare say you did," he said. He saw a slight blush cross Miya's cheeks.

"Miss Tanaka!" Jushiro heard Shunsui exclaim. "We're so gland that you could join us tonight. You look lovely. Wait—I have someone I want to introduce you to—" Shunsui walked over a few feet over and retrieved Nanao from where she had been talking to Nemu and Toshiro. "Nanao-chan, this is Miss Miya Tanaka and Miss Tanaka, this breathtakingly beautiful woman is my wife."

"It's nice to finally meet you Miya," said Nanao.

"It's nice to meet you too. I've heard a lot about you."

"Oh?" said Nanao in a suspicious voice as she turned to glare at Shunsui.

"Don't worry Nanao-chan, I only said good things about you." Miya laughed.

"Yes, I assure you, only good things. By the way—congratulations on your new baby."

"Thank you," replied Nanao.

"Hey Nanao—is it okay for you to be out and about so soon?" asked Matsumoto. "I mean, you only gave birth a few days ago."

"Please," said Nanao with a dismissive wave of her hand, "after the first three times, giving birth is about as strenuous as doing paperwork." Shunsui smiled and in the background, the music changed.

"Dear, sweet, lovely Nanao-chan, would you do me the honor of a dance?"

"Maybe later," replied Nanao curtly.

"But darling, I want to dance now," he said with a pout, "You know how much I love dancing with you." Nanao rolled her eyes in defeat.

"Oh, alright." Shunsui held out his arm and Nanao took it and they began to make their way to the dance floor. As soon as they stepped on the dance floor, the other couples began to move towards the periphery of the dance floor.

"Is there a reason why everyone's getting out of the way?" asked Miya as she turned to look at Jushiro.

"Shunsui and Nanao are very…spirited dancers," he replied.

"Just watch," said Matsumoto with a wink. Miya turned and looked back out at the couple.

Shunsui shrugged out of his white coat and threw it to the side of the floor. He undid the top button on his red shirt and loosened his black tie. Nanao removed her glasses and tossed them back towards the bar where Nemu caught them.

They started dancing.

Fifteen seconds later, Jushiro saw Miya's jaw drop open. He followed Miya's line of slight and to see Shunsui and Nanao twirling effortlessly around the dance floor. Shunsui then stopped abruptly, pulled Nanao flush against him, and then leaned her back in low dip bringing his forehead just inches away from her chest while his right hand traveled up every inch of her leg to rest on her upper thigh. He let go of her and swung her out with one hand before pulling her back into him. He hiked her right leg up around his waist and began to walk backwards in a low crouch pulling her across the floor, her left leg dragging behind her.

"You weren't joking when you said they were spirited dancers," Miya choked out after a moment. Jushiro laughed.

"They're both quite fond of the tango," he replied with a smile.

"Aren't they great?" asked Matsumoto excitedly.

"Very. They're the best dancers I've ever seen."

"With moves like that, I'm not surprised that they've had five kids already," said Matsumoto as she continued to stare at the couple out on the floor.

When the song ended and the next one began, Ichigo and Rukia made their way to the dance floor. They were shortly followed by Matsumoto and Renji.

Jushiro and Miya were left standing alone together.

"So, Miss Miya," said Jushiro as he turned to face her, "Would you also like to dan—"

"Hey Miya!" At hearing her name being called, Miya turned around and saw Toshiro approaching. "Let's dance." Before she even had time to respond, Toshiro took her hand in his and started towing her behind him as he made his way to the dance floor.

Jushiro could have killed him.

Although Jushiro knew it was innocent enough, he couldn't help but want to rip the young white haired captain's arm off. Toshiro ended up dancing three whole songs with Miya before handing her off to Renji for a fourth.

Jushiro sighed and hung his head.

"Uki-Uki, why so sad?" Jushiro looked up to see Yachiru standing in front of him with an uncharacteristic frown on her face. Her long pink hair that matched the color of her knee length dress was pulled up in a pony tail and she had her hands placed on her hips.

"Oh, nothing Yachiru, I'm fine," he replied. Yachiru raised an eyebrow at him.

"You don't look fine," she replied.

"No, I really am," he said. A moment later his eyes involuntarily turned to look at Miya who was still dancing with Renji. Yachiru followed his gaze.

"Oh I see," said Yachiru, "You're sad because Miya's dancing with someone who isn't you. But that's okay!" she said as a large smile appeared on her face, "We can fix that! It's time to turn that frown upside down!"

"Wait—no—I—"

But it was too late to protest. Yachiru quickly grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him towards the dance floor.

When they arrived at the side of the dance floor, Jushiro saw Renji lead Miya off the floor on the opposite side. He bowed thanking her for the dance and then took off towards the bar again.

Yachiru shunpoed to stand behind Jushiro.

"Go get her Uki-Uki!" she said right before she shoved him onto the dance floor. He stumbled onto the floor a few feet and was nearly trampled by Zaraki and Soi Fon as they danced by.

He straightened up and looked back at Yachiru. She gave him a big smile and a wink before she disappeared back into the crowd.

He turned back around to face the direction he had just seen Miya standing in.

Their eyes met at the same time.

He saw the corner of her mouth twitched as she tried to suppress a smile. He took a deep steadying breath and determinedly began to walk towards her.

He was over halfway there when he suddenly saw something that made his eyes widen and forced him to take a sudden ninety degree turn back into the crowd away from the dance floor.

* * *

Miya had watched as Jushiro slowly made his way towards her until her line of sight was cut off. Her eyes trailed up the strong sharp lines of a black suit coat and over a stiff white dress shirt collar until they came to rest on Byakuya Kuchiki's face.

"Captain Kuchiki," said Miya in surprise.

"Miss Tanaka," he replied while meeting her warm dark brown eyes with his cool grey ones. "May I have the honor of the next dance?"

"You may." The words were out of her mouth before she had even had an opportunity to think. Byakuya gave her a small bow before turning to head onto the dance floor. Recovering from her shock, Miya scanned the crowd in the spot where she had last seen Jushiro but he was now nowhere to be found.

She sighed and then followed Byakuya onto the dance floor.

He stopped directly under the large chandelier in the middle of the dance floor and turned to face her. She stopped walking and stood several feet in front of him. The music suddenly changed.

"I'm afraid I don't know this dance," she said as she nervously rubbed her left forearm.

"That's okay," replied Byakuya in a gentle voice, "I do." He offered his left hand out to her. "Just follow my lead." She gave him a skeptical look before hesitantly reaching out to take his hand.

A shiver shot down her spine at the contact and she saw a small smile cross his lips as he stepped to close the distance between them. He stopped merely inches away from her and lifted her right hand up in the air. Her left hand automatically went to rest halfway up his right arm. His left hand went to hold her waist.

His long white fingers extended past the edge of her green dress reaching the skin on the small of her back. It felt as if her skin was being burned at five distinct points.

Byakuya looked her in the eyes once more before he started gliding them across the dance floor. After a couple of unsteady first steps, Miya caught onto the rhythm of the dance and was easily able to follow him.

"For not knowing this dance, you caught on pretty quickly," he said as he released his grip on her waist and spun her out. The skirt of her dress fluttered around her.

"Following isn't so hard," she said. He pulled her back in and she crashed against his chest. He brought his hand to rest on her waist once again and secured her to him. She could feel the fire of his hand burning into her lower back again. "How did you get so good at dancing?" she asked him in an attempt to distract herself form the feel of his hand on her bare skin.

"The only way anyone ever gets good at anything," he replied with a small smile, "By practicing."

The rest of the dance passed in a blur as Miya couldn't focus on anything besides the touch of Byakuya's hands on the bare skin of her arms and legs and the feel of his body pressed up close to hers.

When the end of the song was near, Byakuya cradled her back with one hand and slowly dipped her backwards in a smooth fluid movement. She leaned her head back and felt his free hand glide from her knee, to her thigh, to finally rest on her waist.

When the music finally ended, he didn't immediately let go of her. Miya brought her head back up.

Their eyes locked in an intense gaze.

Her chest heaved slightly and she could tell that he was a little out of breath as well. They stayed that way for a few moments not moving or saying a word. After a little while, his eyes searched her face for a moment before he ever so gently pulled her back up.

It was only when she was standing up again that she noticed that the room had become completely silent. She glanced around the room to see a hundred pairs of eyes staring at them from the periphery of the dance floor. Byakuya also seemed not to have noticed until then. He glanced around the silent crowd. Her senses finally snapped back to her and she heard Byakuya clear her throat.

"Thank you for the dance, Miss Tanaka," he said with a small bow. She bowed in return and they both turned and left the dance floor in opposite directions.

_That was odd_, she thought as she made her way off the dance floor.

"That was amazing!" Miya looked to her right and saw Matsumoto approaching. "Really, that was the hottest thing I've ever seen!"

"What was?" asked Miya confused.

"Your dance with Byakuya."

"What?—no it wasn't."

"Uh, yeah it was. You two put Shunsui and Nanao to shame. Who knew Byakuya Kuchiki was such a good dancer? I guess we should have assumed as much, I mean, with the way he seeks perfection in every other aspect of his life, we should've known that dancing wouldn't be an exception."

"Wait—you've never seen him dance before?" asked Miya in disbelief.

"No one has," replied Matsumoto. "In the past hundred plus years that the Head Captain has been having this gala, he's never danced once. He usually sits of to the side somewhere and frowns while everyone else twirls around."

Miya was about to open her mouth and say something but was cut off from doing so when she heard a familiar voice.

"Having fun?" The next moment, Miya turned to see Kazuma standing next to her.

"Kazuma? How'd you get in here?" she asked.

"The same way you did—through the door," he replied in a bitterly sarcastic tone.

"No, I mean—I thought the gala was only for shinigami."

"Well, if that's the case, how did you manage to get in?" he asked in a gruff voice. From where she was standing, she could smell the strong sour scent of alcohol on his breath.

"Miya helps out in the Court Guard Squads so she's automatically invited to all of the Gotei Thirteen events," said Matsumoto, suddenly serious. Kazuma turned to glare at her with bloodshot ice blue eyes before turning back to face Miya.

"Whatever," he replied. "It doesn't really matter how we got in. But, since we're both here—Miya can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course," she replied. Matsumoto stepped closer to her.

"Alone?" he insisted in an annoyed tone before turning to head towards one of the balcony doors. He staggered a few times before finally reaching the door and going out onto the deserted balcony. Miya hesitated a moment before starting to follow him.

"Miya—are you sure that's such a good idea? He seemed a little—on edge." Miya turned back around and gave her friend an assuring smile.

"Yeah, everything's fine," she replied.

"Okay then," replied Matsumoto with uneasy look on her face. "I'll be right here. Call if you need anything."

"Really Matsumoto, everything's fine," she lied with another fake plastered smile.

Everything was not fine.

As soon as she exited the warm ballroom and was standing on the deserted balcony, she could feel the toxic spikes of reitsau that emanated from Kazuma. To anyone else, his reitsau pattern would have appeared normal, nothing unusual about it. But she knew better. Having known him for over half her life, his reitsau pattern was as familiar to her as her own. Although she didn't know what exactly was causing this toxic reitsau pattern, she knew that it was a bad sign.

"Kazuma, is everything okay?" she asked as she went to stand next to him.

"Everything's fine. Just peachy," he replied bitterly.

"Kazuma, I know you better than that. Everything's not fine. What's bothering you?" She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder that he roughly shrugged off.

"You never answered my question," he said in a low voice. If she hadn't known him better, she would have missed the underlying anger in it.

"What question?" she asked confused.

"Were you having fun?"

"What?"

"You heard me. I saw you in there with that captain. It looks like you were having a lot of fun." She wracked her brain.

"Captain Kuchiki?"

"Yeah that's the one."

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I like dancing and we were just dancing."

"You two were definitely not 'just dancing.' It seriously looked like he was going to have his way with you right there on the dance floor and you looked like you really wanted it."

"Kazuma, that's totally out of line!" she replied. Her concern for him had suddenly vanished and was replaced by anger.

"'Out of line?'" he asked in a bitterly sarcastic voice. "What's out of line is you throwing yourself at every captain in that room. It's disgusting!" he yelled.

"Shut up Kazuma! You're drunk and being a total ass," she replied angrily. "I don't know how you came to that ridiculous conclusion, but that's not what's going on at all!"

"Don't even try to deny it Miya," he growled through his teeth as he took a wobbly step towards her. "I was so stupid for coming here to the Soul Society just for you. You don't appreciate anything I've done for you—anything I'm doing for you. You're not the girl I knew back in Rukongai who hated shinigami and all they stood for. Oh no, you sure have changed a lot—first you agree to stay here in the Seireitei with all these self-righteous bastards and then you start throwing yourself at them like a little slut. You're lucky your mother's dead—if she were here it would kill her to see how you've let yourself become the Seireitei's little bitch!"

That did it.

Miya brought her right hand up and slapped him hard across the left cheek. She had done it so suddenly, Kazuma had merely stood there with his face tilted to the right until he was able to process what had just happened. Taking advantage of his shock, Miya turned around and began to quickly walk back towards the ballroom doors.

She suddenly felt the iron-tight grip of Kazuma's hand on her wrist. He pulled her back and dragged her to him. She once again could smell the heavy scent of alcohol on his breath.

"Let go! That hurts!" she growled through her teeth.

"No, I'm not done talking to you yet!" he replied, his eyes wild and dangerous.

"Oh yes you are." A hand suddenly appeared on Kazuma's wrist. Miya followed the arm up and saw Byakuya glaring at Kazuma with a thousand times the force she had ever seen him glare with. "Let go of Miss Tanaka."

"Oh, Captain Kuchiki," he said with a mock reverence, "Have you come to join the party? Don't you know it's rude to meddle in other people's affairs?" Byakuya's jaw tightened.

"I'm not going to say it again. Let go of Miss Tanaka's arm or I'll just rip it right off your body." The sudden spike of violent reitsau that radiated from Byakuya indicated that he was in no way joking. Kazuma dropped Miya's hand and held both his hands up in a gesture declaring innocence.

"Geeze, alright already. No need to get your panties in a bundle." Miya brought her wrist up and began rubbing it where he had held it in a death grip. "Miya, babe, tell your guardian to back off already will you?"

"Because you're a friend of Miss Tanaka, I won't take any physical action against you. Instead, I'm just going to kick you out of here. This is after all, a Gotei Thirteen event and academy students are strictly not allowed to attend. Don't think that I won't be reporting this to your superiors at the academy." Kazuma rolled his bloodshot eyes. "Leave. Now."

"Fine," he snapped. "But we're not done talking yet Miya."

"Come on," said Byakuya grabbing him roughly by the collar and dragging him towards the door.

"Whoa," said Kazuma in a surprised voice, "You weren't kidding when you said you were going to kick me out. Are you seriously going to drag me to the door yourself? Oww—what are you trying to do, choke me?!?" Byakuya ignored Kazuma's drunken protests and swung open the balcony door and pushed him through. Byakuya paused for a moment with one hand on the door and turned back to face her.

"Please wait here. I'm going to make sure he leaves but I'll be right back." Miya watched through the glass doors as Byakuya and Kazuma disappeared into the crowded ballroom.

After a few moments she realized that her breath was coming short and her jaw had started to tremble slightly. She shook her head trying to get it to stop, but it was no use. She could feel a slow stead pressure begin to build behind her eyes. She looked up and through the glass balcony doors she could see shinigami smiling and laughing and several who were staring at her and whispering conspiratorially to one another.

She couldn't take it any longer.

She quickly made it to the door and once she was inside the ballroom she started running through the crowd towards the exit. As she ran, the pressure behind her eyes continued to increase.

"Miss Miya!" she heard Jushiro call out. She turned her head in the direction she had heard his voice come from. She saw him standing next to a large black flower vase on the side of the room with Shunsui and Nanao. His mouth hung open slightly and he had a concerned look on his face.

She didn't stop running.

She headed straight for the ballroom door nearly knocking several shinigami over on her course. Once she was out of the ballroom, she ran down the large flight of stairs and through a long golden colored hallway that led to the outside door.

She yanked open the front door ran down the dimly lit path that led away from the Head Captain's house she kept running until she couldn't run anymore. The pressure behind her eyes finally broke and several hot stinging tears fell from her eyes. The path they left as they traveled down her cheeks burned her face and she quickly brought her hands up to wipe them away. She threw her head back in an effort to stop any further tears from coming out. Above her she could see several bright stars twinkling in the black night sky. She stood that way for several minutes until she was satisfied that no other tears would manage to squeak their way out. She took a deep steadying breath before she started walking. The wind picked up snapping the train of her green silk dress out behind her. She wrapped her arms around her torso for warmth and continued walking.

_What in the world is wrong with Kazuma?_ She had seen him drunk many times but it had never made him aggressive or harsh. What had triggered him to do so now? Kazuma, although a little temperamental, had never been one to be so mean. And the things he had said—he'd never talked to her that way before. He knew that talking about her mother like that was a low blow—it was the only thing that would definitely hurt her.

Had he been right? Had she really changed so much?

_Yes, I suppose I have. But is that a bad thing?_

She was no longer the angry little girl that she use to be in Rukongai who would have done anything to survive. And now, she could no longer say that she hated shinigami. Before moving to the Seireitei, she had been so naive. She had wanted to blame shinigami for everything that had gone bad in her life. But she knew better now.

Her father hadn't left her mother because he was a shinigami—he had left her because he was a bad person. Her mother's heart had been broken over and over again not just by shinigami—but by regular men too. In the end, it had been bad people who had caused the bad in her life. It was unfair for her to blame a whole group of people for the trespasses of a few.

And, in the end, she knew that dwelling on the past wouldn't change it or make it better. No, the only thing it would do is make it that much harder for her to move on. That's the one thing she realized her mother had never been able to. She had held onto the past and in the end it had swallowed her up.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here." Miya's head snapped up to see a tall lanky shinigami whom she had never seen before. He was closely followed by three others. The look he gave her made her she stop dead in her tracks. She looked around quickly and realized that she had no idea where she was. Neither the area nor the shinigami before her seemed familiar. She had been so sidetracked she had somehow managed to wander away from the normal Seireitei paths. "Just what might a pretty little thing like you be doing out here so late?" he asked with a leer.

"That's none of your business," she replied in a hard voice. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be." She began to walk around them when one of the other shinigami shunpoed right in front of her. She stopped again.

"Now, now, where are you going in such a hurry?" asked the brown haired shinigami who had stepped in front of her. "We just want to talk to you."

"I don't know any of you so there's nothing you could possibly have to say to me. Excuse me." She walked around the brown haired shinigami but only made it a few feet behind him before she felt a hot hand on her shoulder. She violently shrugged it off and spun around.

"Whoa, easy," said a third shinigami. "We're not going to hurt you."

"Speak for yourself," she heard the lanky shinigami say. For the first time in a long time, Miya suddenly felt afraid.

Several of the shinigami began to walk closer to her and she took a staggering step back and reached for her zanpakuto.

But it wasn't there.

Miya looked down at her hip in the position her zanpakuto should have been but instead only saw the shiny green silk fabric of her dress. She hadn't worn her zanpakuto to the gala and now she was really wishing she had. She staggered back a few more feet before turning to run. She ran into a hard object.

"Not so fast," said the lanky shinigami. Miya tried to get away from him but he wrapped his arms around her and pressed her hard against his body. She struggled against his vise-like grip but it was no use. He grabbed her jaw and roughly brought her head up so he could look at her face. "Oh, pretty. Pretty." He said. "Don't you think guys?" he asked as he spun her roughly around.

"Oh, I do think so," said the brown haired shinigami as he took a step closer to her.

"Come on guys, this isn't funny," said a blonde haired shinigami who hadn't spoken before. "Let her go. Someone will be by here soon enough and if they see you you'll be in trouble for sure."

"Thing is, no one's going to come by anytime soon. They're all at that stupid party at the First Division tonight. We're all alone out here," said the lanky shinigami that held her from behind.

"Besides," said the brown haired shinigami, "She's just so pretty." He reached up and ran his hand along the side of her face before letting it trail down her neck. "But I bet she's even prettier with her clothes off."

Miya's eyes widened. There was too many of them, without her zanpakuto, she knew that she couldn't fight them all off. So, she did the only thing she could do. Hoping it would be enough, she used the one kido spell she knew.

She reached down and placed her hand on the leg of the shinigami that was holding her set his uniform on fire.

"Owww! You crazy bitch!" yelled the shinigami as he released her and began swatting at his burning pants leg. She kicked the brown haired shinigami standing in front of her in the stomach causing him to double over in pain. The blond haired shinigami ran over tried to help extinguish the fire.

She took off running.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled the third shinigami who suddenly appeared in front of her. He stopped her, grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, and threw her to the ground. She quickly scrambled to her feet and was about to start running again when she was suddenly tackled by the brown haired shinigami. She saw stars as her head hit the hard ground. She instantly became dizzy and her head began to throb. The shinigami roughly flipped her over onto her back. Through the pain and dizziness in her head, she lifted her hand up to set his arm on fire but was stopped before she could do so.

I rectangular yellow bar suddenly appeared around her hands and try as she may, she couldn't form the kido spell. Her vision began to blur. A few seconds later she saw the lanky shinigami standing over her.

"Stupid bitch," he said as he pushed the brown haired shinigami who was pinning her down with his body out of the way. "This was my favorite pair of pants. You're going to pay for ruining it." She felt the green skirt of her dress slowly being pulled up her legs.

Her head lolled to the side and her eye lids felt as if they had lead weights attached to them as they slowly fell. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was a flash of white.

Somewhere out in the darkness, she heard someone call her name.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it was so long, but I hope you liked this chapter! You can see why I chose to split it up into two.**

**Just for fun, I placed a link for the Bleach Sealed Sword Frenzy ending in my profile. It has Jushiro, Byakuya, Shunsui, and some other Bleach guys wearing dress suits. Lots of the other Bleach characters are shown wearing regular clothes as well. It's worth checking out if you haven't seen it yet.**

**I've already started working on the next chapter. I don't know when it will be ready, but hopefully I'll be able to finish it soon. Until next time!**

**Review Please :)**


	18. Chapter 17: Comfort

**I'm back :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own bleach.**

**Chapter 17: Comfort**

Jushiro had been in the process of going after Miya when he had suddenly been stopped by the head captain. Although he had tried to avoid being engaged by the long winded captain, the old man had not taken the hint. As a result, Jushiro had been obligated to stand there for a few minutes and listen to him speak. Or, at least he pretended to be listening to him. In actuality, he wasn't paying attention at all. All he could think about was Miya.

He had never seen Miya look so upset before. As she had ran out of the room, she had had the look of a china doll sitting on the edge of a table who knew that she was about to be knocked off the edge and shattered to pieces. Thinking about that look, Jushiro couldn't suppress the feeling of unease and apprehension it stirred in him. What on earth could have upset her so much?

"Head Captain, I'm sorry but I have to go," he finally abruptly interrupted the old man. Jushiro saw the head captain's jaw hang open slightly and his eyes widen in surprise. He quickly turned and headed towards the exit not even caring to apologize for his rudeness. He knew he'd be in trouble for it later.

But at that moment, he couldn't have cared less.

Once he was outside he searched the area for Miya's reitsau, but she was hiding it like she usually did and he found no trace of it. Anxious, he began to shunpo back towards the Thirteenth Division to look for her. His anxiety grew measure by measure as he passed each division. By the time he reached the Tenth Division grounds, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach knowing full well that she couldn't have made it that far yet on foot. Convincing himself that someone might have shunpoed her home, he continued heading to the Thirteenth Division. When he got to the Thirteenth Division barracks, he could see from downstairs that her light was off but decided to check if she was there anyways. He went upstairs and knocked on her door.

There was no answer.

He reached up and knocked again, this time more forcefully. Still there was no answer. The sinking pit in his stomach grew deeper still and he knocked once again even louder than before.

"Captain Ukitake?" Jushiro turned to see two of his female division members who he had hadn't even noticed before standing in the otherwise empty hallway.

"Good evening," he said, "Have either of you seen Miss Miya recently?" he asked, too worried to care that his voice sounded a little desperate.

"No, I haven't," said the first tall blonde shinigami.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"We've both been standing out here for a while. We would have seen her if she had come in recently. Is everything—"

Jushiro never heard the end of the sentence because he immediately shunpoed back outside and began heading back towards the First.

He couldn't understand why in the world he was so anxious, although she looked upset, he had no reason to believe that she was in any immediate danger. But still, he couldn't stop the knot that was rapidly forming in his throat or deny the impending sense of doom that filled his thoughts making his pulse race and his throat become dry.

He began shunpoing through the Seireitei blindly, checking for her reitsau every few seconds but still he found nothing. His anxiety kept building until a few moments later when he felt something that made him stop dead in his tracks.

Somewhere in the woods nearby, he felt Miya's reitsau flare.

His initial reaction was one of relief. He was relieved that she was close by, that fact allowing him to dispel the terrible scenarios that had formed in his mind involving her being abducted and taken out of the Seireitei and far, far away.

His relief however was short lived.

A few moments after the reitsau flare, Miya's reitsau spiked violently, as it had the first night they had met and she had been injured.

He was headed through the woods and towards her before he even knew that he was moving. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw her green dress shimmering in the light of the moon through the trees up ahead, but as he broke through the tree line and caught sight of her, his heart stopped for a moment and his blood ran cold.

Miya lay sprawled with her back pressed to the cold ground with a yellow glowing kido blocking bar pinning each one of her hands to the ground. Three shinigami stood around her and a fourth lay on top of her pinning her down. .

"Stupid bitch," said one of the shinigami who was standing over her before he abruptly pulled the one who was pinning her down out of the way. "This was my favorite pair of pants. You're going to pay for ruining it." Miya's head lolled to the side and her eyes closed. The shinigami who had been pinning her down began to pull Miya's dress up as the lanky one who had just spoken went to kneel between her legs.

His knees never made it to the ground. Jushiro yanked the lanky shinigami away from Miya and delivered a hard punch to his face that sent the shinigami stumbling backwards. Jushiro quickly turned to check on Miya.

"Miya? Miya?" he called as he went to bend down to check on her. A surge of relief ran through him when he felt the drum of her pulse in her neck against his fingers. She had been knocked unconscious, but she was alive. A sudden flare of foreign reitsau made him turn around.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" yelled the lanky shinigami as he roughly wiped a trail of blood that had dribbled from his split lip with his right hand. In his other hand he clutched tightly onto the handle of a zanpakuto..

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Jushiro, black rage in his voice.

"Us?" replied the lanky shinigami with a laugh, "We were just about to have a good old time till you decided to bust on in here." Jushiro heard a rustling sound and turned around to see that the three other shinigami had also pulled their zanpakutos out and had assumed defensive stances. "Now mind your own business and fuck off," spat the lanky shinigami.

"No," said Jushiro as his hand went to reach for his zanpakuto, only to realize the next moment that it wasn't there, it had been left at home with his shinigami uniform and his captain's haori.

"Suit yourself. You can stay and watch, I don't care," the shinigami took a step closer to him "If you shut your trap and stay out of the way, we might even let you have a go once we're done with her." The right corner of the shinigami's bloody mouth turned up into an ugly smirk. "Now get the fuck out of my way."

"I'm not going to do that," replied Jushiro through his teeth.

"Suit yourself." With that, the shinigami came charging towards him. Jushiro easily side stepped his forward attack before launching a kido ball towards the shinigami's stomach. The air was knocked out of the shinigami's stomach as he was blasted backwards fifteen feet before he crashed onto the ground. A second shinigami then came charging towards him. Jushiro effectively caught the shinigami's wrist as he was about to come down in an over the head attach and gripped it hard causing the shinigami to drop his zanpakuto. The shinigami then launched a punch towards Jushiro's face, but he was able to intersect it and caught his fist before quickly twisting his arm and then locking it behind his back. So caught up in what was going on, Jushiro failed to notice a third shinigami headed up right behind him until he was merely feet away. Jushiro turned and realizing that it was too late to move, he braced himself for the attack. A fraction of a second before the shinigami's zanpakuto was to make made contact with his back, large kido blocking bars appeared around his hands and feet effectively stopping him dead in his tracks. Confused, Jushiro turned around to see who had cast the kido spell that had stopped him from being run through.

A little ways down the path stood Byakuya Kuchiki.

"Captain Kuchiki?" asked Jushiro in disbelief as Byakuya slowly walked over to where he was. "What are you doing out here?" Byakuya didn't answer. He stopped walking and stood a few feet in front of him. His gaze shifted from the ground in front of him to where Miya lay behind him.

"Is she okay?" he asked. Although his face was expressionless, his voice was laced with anger. Jushiro quickly went back over to Miya and dispelled the kido blocking bars and did a more thorough check on her before answering.

"Yeah, she's fine," he said with a sigh of relief. "She's got a nasty bump on her head. But she'll be just fine," he said as he checked her head. "I got here before…well, in time." Jushiro saw Byakuya's jaw tighten a notch.

Ever so gently, Jushiro slid one arm under her knees and one arm under her back and lifted her up off the ground. She winced a little when her head made contact with his shoulder, but other than that, she didn't stir.

A chorus of groans escaped from the shinigami who had been injured. Looking to his right, Jushiro noticed for the first time the fourth shinigami with blonde hair standing near the tree line. He had apparently been in the process of running away before Byakuya had kido blocked him as well. Jushiro looked back at Miya who still lay unconscious in his arms.

" Byakuya, could you please take care of these four? I'm going to take Miss Miya home." Byakuya nodded solemnly and with that, Jushiro turned around and headed back towards the Thirteenth Division.

He shunpoed slowly, not wanting to jostle her injured head too much. When he arrived at her apartment, he found a key on the top of her door frame and used it to open the door. Once inside, he placed the key on her table before laying her down gently on the faded yellow couch in her living room.

He sat on the edge of her low wooden coffee table in front of the couch. On seeing her shiver slightly, he removed his coat and draped it over her. She began to stir and he held his breath and froze in place. After a few moments, a deep frown marred her face and her eyes slowly fluttered open. She looked around the room for a moment before her eyes finally focused in on him.

"Captain Ukitake?" she asked, confusion on her face and in her voice. "What are—How did—" And then the events that had just happened came back to her all at once and her eyes widened with fear and horror before she quickly sat up.

"Owww!" she exclaimed as she clutched the sides of her head in pain.

"Easy, easy," said Jushiro as he tried to soothe her. "Please lay back down."

"But—" she began to protest.

"You're alright," said Jushiro. "You hit you're head pretty hard, but you're going to be alright." Miya hesitated for a moment before she finally let her hands drop and laid back down.

"How did I get here?" she asked after a few moments.

"I found you out there and brought you back."

"Oh," was all she said. "How did you get in?"

"Well, I used the key you had on the doorframe outside."

"Oh, right," she said, only now remembering that she had left it there.

"You know you should probably think of a better place to hide your key. Since that was the first place I looked, I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to think that anyone who wanted to get in would eventually think to look there too. You could always get a fake rock or a potted plant to hide your it in."

"I'll put that on my list of things to do," she replied, her voice apprehensive. She looked away from him and then nervously began fidgeting with the fringe on one of the couch cushions.

"Um, is something wrong?" he asked, concerned. She didn't answer and the increasing look of worry that filled her face made him anxious. "What is it?"

"Uh, well, it's just that, when you found me," she said in a soft slightly shaky voice, "Did…." she trailed off, unable to finish. It took him a moment before he realized what she was referring to.

"Oh, no. Nothing like that." She let out a sigh and relief flooded her face. She turned back to look at him and winced from the movement. "Does it hurt a lot?" he asked.

"If you consider feeling like your head's been trampled by a heard of hollows bad, then yes," she said with a weak smile.

"Do you have any medicine here?" he asked.

"No. I don't keep any on hand considering how I hardly ever get sick."

"In that case," he said, "Try to hold still." He reached his left hand out towards her head.

"W-what are you doing?" she asked, her voice a little panicked.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said before he placed his hand on the right side of her head. At the initial contact, he saw her body tense, but it only lasted for a second. As soon as the healing kido passed through his hand, she relaxed and leaned into his palm. "Does that feel better?" he asked after a couple of minutes.

"Yes. Thank you," she said with a small smile. "I didn't realize that shinigami outside of the fourth division did healing kido."

"Most don't. I've always thought that it was an important thing to know though. It comes very handy in battle if you can heal your own minor injuries without having to rely on someone else to do it for you."

"I guess I should probably learn some more kido," she said with a sigh.

"It could definitely come in handy."

"I'll put that on my list of things to do too." Several minutes passed before Jushiro broke the silence.

"What were you doing all the way out in the woods anyways?" He asked, unable to wipe the pained expression she had on earlier that evening from his mind.

"Well, I saw Kazuma at the party and he said some things that shook me up a little. I was on my way home and thinking about the things he said and I guess I really wasn't paying too much attention to where I was going because before I knew it, I had no idea where I was."

"You must have been doing some intense thinking to have wandered up in the woods without even realizing it." She didn't reply and Jushiro took her silence as a confirmation.

"I was worried when I saw you leave."

"You were worried about me?" she asked in disbelief.

"Of course I was. How could you even think that I wouldn't be?" She didn't answer but merely looked away and began fidgeting with the cushion again.

"What Kazuma said," said Jushiro after a minute, "Is that what had you so upset when you left the party?" She nodded. "What did he say?"

"He said a lot of things that were complete crap, but then he said something that really got me thinking." She looked back and met his eyes with her own. "Captain Ukitake, do you think I've changed since I've been here?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Really?" she questioned, "How so?"

"You smile a lot more," he said with a smile.

"What? No I don't," she said her face becoming serious.

"Yes, you do," he replied. She gave him a skeptical look. "It's true. You might not realize it, but you do." She looked away and let out a short laugh which left a smile on her face. "See, there it is," he said as his thumb on the hand that cradled the side of her face ghosted over her cheekbone. She turned back to look at him with her dark brown eyes and for the longest moment, they stayed that way, neither one speaking or moving.

"I think my head's healed now," she finally said breaking the silence. She brought her hand up and gently removed the hand that had long ago stopped administering healing kido away from her head.

"Oh, right." He said and sat back. He looked around the room nervously before standing up. "It's late. I should go. He and began walking towards the front door.

"Wait!" he heard her exclaim before he felt her hand wrap around his right wrist. Stunned, he turned around to look at her. "Could, could you stay?" she asked, her cheeks turning a light pink. "Until I fall asleep?" Still stunned, he was unable to find his voice and merely nodded in response.

He sat down on floor between the couch and coffee table and leaned his back against the couch. Still clutching his hand, Miya laced her fingers through his and then held the back of his hand to her cheek. "Thank you," she said before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

After a while, her breathing became even and Jushiro could tell that she had finally fallen asleep. Still, he couldn't bring himself to move from where he was. He had so anxious and worried earlier, and now it was such a pleasant feeling to know that she was sleeping safe and sound next to him.

Eventually, Jushiro's eyes drifted shut as well and he fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.

* * *

Jushiro was once again pulled out of his sleep by a sudden reitsau spike. Being woken up so suddenly, he had been left dazed and confused. He opened his eyes and blinked the sleep form them as he took in his surroundings. The early morning light filtered in to the room past the open dark green curtains and it wasn't until he heard a ruffling sound behind him remembered where he was.

Turning around, he saw Miya shifted slightly for a moment before stilling and falling back into a peaceful sleep. She definitely was a sight to see. Her long black hair had become undone and now hang in loose curls that framed her face and cascaded down her shoulders. The early morning light illuminated her face giving it a soft golden glow and all the hard lines that normally crossed her face were gone.

She had changed so much over the past few months. Not only had she begun to smile more, but she had also become less guarded. In the beginning, she had always been on guard—afraid to let the emotions in her heart show on her face. But over time, her carefully crafted façade had begun to fall away. And now, here she was—completely vulnerable and unguarded yet comfortable enough to be so in his presence.

And somehow, over the past few months, he had changed as well. Over the past few years, Jushiro had come to terms with the idea that maybe he was meant to be alone. He hadn't been too thrilled about it, but at least he had accepted it. He had learned to live like a reanimated corpses—not completely alive, but also not completely dead. But after having met Miya, everything changed. Now, the idea of being alone seemed torturous and the thought of losing her was too terrible to bear.

The only sound in the room now was the soft even rhythm of Miya's breathing and the steady beat of his heart. She shifted in her sleep and he held his breath, afraid that the slightest bit of sound would wake her up. When she stopped shifting a few moments later, and he was confident that she wouldn't stir again, he resumed breathing. He went to stand up and that's when he realized that she was still holding his hand.

Her delicate thin fingers were intertwined with his own and laying near her face. A second later, as if his realization had triggered it, Miya sighed in her sleep and squeezed his hand. Suddenly, the sound of his heart beat became deafeningly loud in his ears as he realized what his heart had known all along.

He loved her.

The emotions had been there for a while now, sitting under the surface, waiting for him to realize what they were. And now, realizing how he felt, it didn't come as a great shock, just as an affirmation. He couldn't tell exactly how or when it had happened, but he had fallen in love with her. It was as simple as that.

Jushiro found himself wanting to stay where he was forever, but knowing that she would probably be waking up soon, he slowly pulled his hand out of hers. She frowned and stirred a little at the loss of the contact before finally turning to face the couch and continued sleeping. He walked to the front door and with one last glance back on her sleeping form, he stepped out into the hallway, shutting and locking the door behind him.

Having left his coat with Miya, he instantly felt a rush of cold air hit him. He began tucking the bottom of his shirt that had somehow come untucked during the night back into the top of his pants as he made his way towards the stairs.

A flare of reitsau form nearby made him look up.

"Byakuya," he said in surprise when he caught sight of the Sixth Division Captain. Byakuya also wore the same clothes he had on the night before and if this red nose was a good indicator, he had been standing out in the cold for a while no. "What are you doing here?" There was a pause before he answered.

"I was just in the area and decided to stop by and make sure that Miss Tanaka was alright."

"Yeah, she's fine. I took care of her head and she's sleeping now. You shouldn't bother her. She's tired and needs to rest." Jushiro finished tucking in his shirt. He saw Byakuya's hand clench for a few moments before he let it relax again.

"I see," said Byakuya before looking away. "I'm glad to hear that she's alright." And with that, Byakuya shunpoed away leaving Jushiro alone in the empty hallway.

* * *

**A/N: Boor Byakuya! I think he might have gotten the wrong idea at the end of this chapter.**

**A million apologies that it took me so long to update! Please believe me when I say that I have a legitimate excuse for not doing so sooner.**

**It's not my style to not finish the things I begin, so I promise you that I will finish this story. How long it will take me though, I'm not completely sure. I'm about halfway through the next chapter and if I remained inspired, I might be able to crank out the next two chapters this weekend.**

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed my last chapter. You guys are awesome!**

**Until next time!**

**-honkytonkangel1**

**Review Please :)**


	19. Chapter 18:  The Gardener

Chapter 18: The Gardener

When Miya walked into the Thirteenth Division office later that morning she immediately noticed two things that were different. The first was the fact that the mornings' paperwork that was usually piled high on her desk appeared to be evenly distributed between her desk and Kiyone's. The second and most disturbing difference was that instead of her usual scowl, Kiyone had a large overly friendly smile plastered on her face.

"Good morning, Miya!" said Kiyone, a little too enthusiastically. "Isn't today just a lovely day?"

"Um, sure I guess. Sorry I'm late," replied Miya, hesitantly.

"Oh don't worry about it," said Kiyone, "The Captain has been in a meeting all morning and I won't say anything when he comes in. Your secret's safe with me," she said with a wink before practically floating to her desk with a hot cup of tea in her hand. Miya watched in stunned silence as she began humming cheerfully while working through some of the papers on her desk.

"What's gotten into you today?" asked Miya, unable to reign in her curiosity.

"What do you mean?" replied Kiyone with an innocent expression on her face.

"Well," said Miya, "I've never seen you in such a good mood before and quite frankly it's kind of creeping me out a little." Kiyone thought about her observation for a moment before giving an agreeing nod.

"Well," said Kiyone before taking a sip of her tea, "I suppose I'm in such a good mood because I had such a wonderful time at the party last night." Kiyone's smile grew even wider. "Didn't you also have a great time at the party?" she asked happily.

"It was okay," she replied. Actually, when she thought about it, besides the Kazuma fiasco and that weird moment she had had with Byakuya after their dance, she had actually had a nice time.

"Please," said Kiyone, drawing out each syllable, "I saw you dancing with Captain Kuchiki. It looked like you were having more than just an okay time." Miya was about to speak when the sound of the door opening stopped her.

"Good morning Captain!" exclaimed Kiyone as Jushiro walked through the door.

"Good morning," he replied, not noticing the sudden change in her demeanor. But then again, how could he? After all, she was always nice to him.

"How did your meeting go?" she asked. There was a pause before he answered.

"It went just fine," he replied distractedly as he turned to face Miya. Their eyes locked. "Hello Miss Miya. How are you feeling?" he asked, his expression slightly worried.

"I feel great," she replied with a smile before tapping the side of her head. "Good as new."

"I'm glad to hear that," he replied, the worry draining from his face. "Are you just getting in?" he asked when he saw that she was still wearing her coat and scarf.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry I'm late. I kind of slept in a little." Actually, she had slept in a lot. "I'll get to work right away," she said and quickly yanked off her red scarf and went to go sit down behind her desk.

"Oh, no, don't do that," said Jushiro. Miya looked up confused. "You're not going to be working on paperwork anymore. From now on, you're going to be training with the rest of the squad.

"What!" shouted Kiyone as she shot up nearly knocking her chair over. "Captain, how can that be? How can Miya train with the squad? She's not even a real member of our squad or a real shinigami for that matter!"

"She's right," replied Miya, turning away from Kiyone's surprised face to look at Jushiro. "I'm not a shinigami."

"Well that doesn't matter," replied Jushiro, "I already spoke with the head captain and he said that he'd allow it," Jushiro nodded towards the door behind him. "Come on, lets go."

"Right now?" asked Miya.

"There's no time like the present."

"But I've already missed half a day," she protested.

"You've only missed morning shunpo and kido training. It doesn't matter though; you won't be training with the squad for either of those anyways."

"Why not?"

"Well, you're pretty much at a beginning level for each of those. The squad members are all in late intermediate to advanced levels. Until you catch up, I'll be working with you one on one." At that moment there was a loud crash and Miya turned to see that Kiyone's tea cup had fallen out of her hand and onto the floor. It now lay shattered in a hundred little pieces.

"Is everything alright?" Jushiro asked as he took in Kiyone's bewildered expression. She didn't answer. "Kiyone?" At hearing his voice again, Kiyone closed her eyes and shook the confused expression off her face.

"Um, yeah," she replied.

"Okay then," replied Jushiro a bit skeptically. He opened the front door. "After you," he said to Miya. She grabbed her scarf off her desk and caught sight of Kiyone glaring at her from the corner of her eyes as she headed out the front door.

"You might want to clean that up," she heard him say to Kiyone before he stepped outside. Although she couldn't be sure, Miya had a good feeling that Kiyone's ridiculously good mood had just been killed.

"Are you sure about this?" Miya asked as they made their way towards the training grounds, "I only know one useful kido spell and it took me forever to learn it—and running not-so-very-fast is as closest I've ever gotten to doing shunpo. Teaching me might be more trouble than it's worth." Jushiro smiled.

"It won't be. Besides, since you haven't done a lot of kido, you probably don't have any bad habits I have to correct. You're basically a blank slate."

"A blank slate," Miya repeated to herself. She liked the idea of getting a clean start. During the time that she had spent in the Seireitei, she had seen several of the squads practicing kido and had been impressed by how delicate and destructive power it was. Not every shinigami excelled at kido as doing so required both discipline and talent. She was amazed by how the higher ranked shinigami were able to make something so complicated look so effortless. Admittedly, she had wanted to give it a try herself and was starting to get excited at the opportunity to do so now. "Well, if you're sure, then okay, let's do it."

"Okay," he replied.

"So which are we going to start with? Shunpo or kido?"

"Well, because of my duties to the Division, I'm not going to have enough time to teach you both."

"Oh?" Miya asked. Jushiro nodded.

"I'm going to see if I can possibly get Kiyone to help you with your shunpo. She's actually really good at it." Miya cringed at the idea of the small lieutenant teaching her how to do anything.

"Actually, don't worry about it," said Miya, "I know someone who'll be able to teach me."

"Oh, really?" asked Jushiro as he turned to look at her, "Who?"

* * *

A few hours later, Miya once again made her way up the white stone pathway and to the large dragon guarded door. A sudden spike in reitsau followed by a loud crash caused her to pause, her hand poised over the bronze door knocker.

She knew that reitsau and incidentally, it belonged to the person she had come looking for.

She walked off the poach and around the side of the massive house and began heading towards the back garden where she had determined the source of the reitsau was. The house was ridiculously large and it took her several minutes of walking to make it to the back.

Miya pulled open the heavy iron garden gate and stepped into the back garden.

Before she had a chance to look around, she had to duck to avoid being hit in the head with a large clay pot. The pot collided against the gate with a loud bang and shattered into a thousand pieces. Cautiously, Mia slowly stood up and walked further into the garden until she was able to see Byakuya Kuchiki.

Byakuya stood with his back towards her in the middle of what use to be a beautiful garden. You really couldn't call it that anymore. The tall dark green hedges that had lined the outer perimeter looked as if they had been blown up leaving only small brown stumps green leaf bits where they use to be. The small bridge that had arched over the koi pond had been snapped in two and Miya could see the small orange and white fish swimming in circles around the parts that lay in the water. The large clay pots that had been scattered throughout the yard and held ancient bonsai trees had almost all been destroyed and there were huge patches of grass that were missing. Broken branches, pieces of pots, rock bits, and shredded leaves littered the ground. It looked as if Mother Nature had gotten sick and thrown up everywhere.

With another flick of his wrist, Byakuya hurled a shimmering pink cloud towards the last standing bonsai tree blowing up the clay pot and sending bonsai bits flying all over the yard. Miya ducked behind the remnants of what use to be a massive cherry tree to avoid being hit with the top of the bonsai tree as it flew by.

"You know," she said as she cautiously stuck her head out from behind the mangled tree trunk, "If you wanted to destroy your yard, all you had to do was set fire to the place." Byakuya froze instantly at hearing the sound of her voice. After a moment he dropped his hand and waited for the glowing pink flower petals to reform into the blade of his zanpakuto before he turned around.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked, his eyes focused on the ground in front of his feet and a deep frown marring his face.

"Long enough to see you defeat a poor helpless bonsai tree," she said unable to suppress a smile as she stepped out from behind her temporary shield and began walking towards him. "So what exactly are you doing?" she asked when she stopped a few feet away from him.

"Gardening," replied the Sixth Division Captain.

"Gardening?" Miya asked, skeptical. Byakuya nodded. "Well, I guess if you were going for that whole war zone look, you've definitely succeeded." Miya surveyed the wreckage and wondered how long it was going to take to clean the mess up. With a yard this size, it would probably take a couple of days. "You know, I never really took you for the gardening type."

"I find it therapeutic," he replied stiffly. Mia studied Byakuya's face as he gazed out over the destructed garden and it occurred to her that there was something different about him today. The detached look in his eyes, the flatness of his voice, and the tense way that he stood—it was all off.

"Um, is everything alright?" Miya asked cautiously.

"Everything is fine," he deadpanned.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be sure?" His voice had come out clipped and Miya knew that something was definitely wrong.

"You tell me," she replied. He remained silent. "I don't know, but you seem different today."

"No I do not," he said in such cold and emotionless tone, it reminded her of the first time she had met him. She stepped in front of him and he quickly turned his head away refusing to look at her.

"Yes you do," she replied firm in her belief that something was wrong and she wasn't imagining it. "What's wrong? Maybe I can help?"

"Look, I sad that nothing's wrong. If the whole purpose of you coming out here is to tell me how I do or don't fit along with some pre-conceived notion you have of me, than I have better things to do," he snapped before he pushed passed her and began walking away.

"Wait a minute—where are you going?" she asked surprised by his sudden and abrupt change in demeanor.

"Home!" he shouted angrily over his shoulder.

"You idiot!" she yelled at him causing him to stop dead in his tracks. He spun around and met her eyes for the first time since she had gotten there, a surprised look on his face. Miya marched to where he was and stopped a few feet in front of him. "You idiot! You are home! If my being here is so unpleasant, then I'll leave," Miya said angrily before turning to head towards the gate. "Have fun with your extreme gardening!" she shouted sarcastically over her shoulder as she stormed away. _I hope he gets poison ivy in really unfortunate places_, she thought to herself as she left.

"Wait," she heard him call out after a few moments. She pretended not to have heard him and continued walking until he suddenly appeared in front of her blocking her path. Stopping abruptly, she dug her heels into the ground to avoid falling over. "Wait," he repeated.

"For what?" she asked as she glared up at him," For you to learn some manners? No thank you." She made her way around him and to the gate.

"Please wait." Weather it was the remorseful look that had been in his eyes the moment before or the slightly hopeless tone of his voice, Miya found herself unable to push the gate open and leave as dramatically as she had planned to. Instead she lowered her hand from the gate handle before slowly turning around. "You're right," he said as he looked at her with sad gray eyes. "I'm afraid I'm not myself today." The look in his eyes suddenly made Miya feel guilty for pushing the issue.

"I wasn't trying to pry. I only wanted to help."

"I know," replied Byakuya, with a sigh.

"If you didn't want to talk to me about it, all you had to do was say so."

"I should have. Instead I ended up acting like an ass, and for that I apologize." The look he had in his eyes told her that there was something else that he wanted to say, that there was something he wanted to tell her but for some reason he couldn't. Instead, he continued looking straight into her eyes and she realized for the first time how deep and clear his eyes were—it made her heart thump. She quickly looked away.

"Well," she said trying to break the seriousness of the mood, "Since you just called yourself an ass, I suppose I can forgive you."

"I did not just call myself an ass." Miya turned to look at Byakuya.

"What? Yes you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you did."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I didn't. Why would I ever refer to myself as a donkey?" Miya looked at him confused until she saw the corner of his mouth twitch. It was followed by a smile that cracked his overly serious expression.

"Kuchiki! Seriously? You're the worst ever at telling jokes!"

"No, I'm actually quite a brilliant joke teller. You just don't have a very good sense of humor." Miya laughed.

"Whatever. If you ever go through a midlife crisis, please don't quite your job and try becoming a standup comedian. You'd get booed off the stage faster than you can say shunpo." Byakuya smiled again.

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied. Glad that the tension from earlier was gone, Miya looked around the garden. It really did look like a disaster zone. "Would you like to come in for some tea Miss Tanaka?"

"Okay," she replied. Byakuya held open the gate so that Miya could walk through and they slowly made their way around to the front of the house.

"I didn't get to ask you earlier—But to what do I owe the pleasure of your company today?"

"Well, I actually had something I wanted to ask you," she replied. "Does your offer to teach me how to shunpo still stand?" Byakuya nodded. "Well, I'd like to take you up on it."

"Okay. But I have to ask—why do you want to learn how to shunpo all of a sudden?"

"Let's just say that given recent events, I think that knowing how to shunpo could be pretty useful." She saw Byakuya nod from the corner of her eye. "When can we start?"

"Tomorrow morning, bright and early."

"Great. Thanks." They walked up onto the front porch and Byakuya pulled open the front door for her.

"You know," he said as she began to step inside, "I don't think anyone has ever called me an idiot before." She flashed him a smile.

"Maybe not to your face."

* * *

**A/N: First of all I want to give a shout out to Reikat, Nataliexo, invisible-gurl, Valinor's Twilight, Cold Fyre, TsukiyomiMoon, and Mahogony Rose who all reviewed my last chapter. Thanks guys! I'd also like to give a shout out to iliketoread'alot3 who is kind of my unofficial Beta.**

**To answer your question, I'm about halfway through with this story. I had originally planned on making it a nice little twelve chapter story, but as any writer can tell you, stories tend to take a life of their own and write themselves and you kind of just have to sit back and let it take you where it takes you. Trust me, I didn't set out to write an epic, but it's really starting to look that way.**

**I love how Byakuya tells the world's worse jokes. I've put up a link in my profile to a Shinigami Cup episode where Byakuya tells Renji a joke if you want to see his bad joke telling in action.**

**I hope you all had a great Christmas! Until next time!**

**Review Please : )**


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